The Sony Bravia 9 II is perhaps the most impressive backlit TV I’ve ever seen. And yet, after spending time with it in Tokyo a couple of months ago (here’s my Bravia 9 II hands-on), I still don’t think I would swap my OLED for it.

That might sound odd, considering the Bravia 9 II is in many ways exactly what the TV industry has been promising us for years. It’s dazzlingly bright, remarkably controlled, deeply cinematic and, in terms of colour reproduction, genuinely closer to a studio mastering monitor than maybe any other TV I have tested.

In lots of ways, Sony’s new RGB Mini LED flagship feels like a glimpse of the future.

But my time testing it also reinforced something I have long suspected: no matter how sophisticated backlight technology becomes, there may still be certain image qualities that only self-emissive pixels can truly deliver.

To be clear, I’m not writing off RGB Mini LED. Far from it. In fact, I think the Bravia 9 II has every chance of proving to be the best LCD-based TV ever made once we get a final production sample in for a full review.

Nor am I claiming that OLED is objectively ‘better’ in every regard. The Bravia 9 II can hit 4000 nits in its most accurate mode, which is an astonishing achievement, and Sony’s new RGB backlight system appears capable of delivering exceptionally rich, accurate colours at brightness levels that OLED simply can’t currently match.

But the more impressive RGB Mini LED becomes technically, the more I find myself frustrated by the ways in which it still can’t match OLED.

The big one, for me, is solidity.

OLED TVs tend to produce images with a density and three-dimensionality that’s difficult to quantify but immediately obvious when you see it. Objects appear more tangible and more firmly placed within the image. Dark scenes, in particular, have a kind of depth and stability that even the best backlit TVs rarely fully replicate.

My theory – and it is just a theory – is that this comes from OLED’s pixel-level contrast control. Every pixel is independently and precisely responsible for its own luminance, with no need for a backlight system working behind the scenes to decide how bright different areas of the screen should be.

Even the most advanced Mini LED TVs are still, ultimately, trying to approximate that behaviour using clusters of controllable lights behind an LCD layer. Sony’s latest system is probably the closest I’ve seen any manufacturer get, but I’m not yet convinced that any amount of dimming-zone sophistication can entirely reproduce the same perceptual solidity as self-emissive pixels.

Even the most intelligent of backlighting systems can also be caught out in a way that an OLED doesn’t have to worry about, too.

During my testing of the Bravia 9 II, I used the opening text sequence from Blade Runner 2049, which is notoriously difficult for backlit TVs. Here, the Bravia 9 II’s otherwise superb backlight controls visibly faltered, introducing uneven colouring and reducing the intensity of text that should have appeared vividly red.

Now, this was a pre-production sample, and Sony may well improve this before launch. I certainly wouldn’t judge the TV too harshly based on one particularly brutal torture test, anyway.

But the moment still felt telling.

One of OLED’s greatest strengths is consistency. There is very little sense of the TV ‘working’ to create the image. Highlights, shadows and colours simply appear exactly where they should, without drawing attention to the mechanicals behind the picture.

With even the very best backlit TVs, there are still moments when you become aware of the processing and dimming systems juggling competing priorities in real time. And once you notice that, even briefly, you are no longer completely immersed in what you’re watching.

That’s not to say OLED is flawless, of course. OLED TVs are dimmer than the very brightest Mini LED models, and RGB Mini LED’s advocates are absolutely right that the technology can produce more saturated colours at extremely high brightness levels.

I’m just not yet convinced how transformative that advantage is with real-world content.

Most movies and TV shows still aren’t mastered anywhere near 4000 nits, and while extra brightness headroom is undeniably useful in bright viewing environments, the best modern OLEDs are already more than bright enough for most people’s living rooms.

Similarly, greater colour volume is technically impressive, but much of that benefit stems from the ability to maintain colour saturation at very high luminance levels. If content rarely reaches those levels in the first place, the practical gains can feel somewhat pointless outside of demos.

That may change over time, of course. TV manufacturers clearly believe brighter HDR content is coming, and perhaps it eventually will.

But there’s another reason why I think RGB Mini LED matters, and this one is more immediate and convincing to me: screen size.

At 65 and 77 inches, OLED has become relatively attainable. But once you move into truly enormous sizes – 83 inches, 97 inches – OLED remains prohibitively expensive; and models larger than 100 inches don’t even exist.

RGB Mini LED could be the answer to that.

Sony is launching the Bravia 9 II in sizes up to 115 inches, and other brands are going similarly massive with their RGB Mini LED sets (that’s the Hisense 116UX in the photo above). I suspect technologies such as this will eventually make truly gigantic premium TVs far more accessible than OLED ever can. In that sense, RGB Mini LED may end up becoming the spiritual successor to projectors.

And maybe that’s where this all ends up.

For years, the TV industry has searched for a single technology that combines OLED’s contrast and pixel precision with LCD’s brightness and scalability. RGB Mini LED is clearly the closest anyone has yet come to achieving that.

But after seeing Sony’s awesome-looking Bravia 9 II, I’m not sure I believe there will ever be one universal winner.

Perhaps the future of premium TVs isn’t about one technology replacing another entirely. Perhaps it’s about different technologies excelling in different ways, for different people, at different sizes.

At least for now, OLED still feels like the most complete and convincing option for me personally – but I can see why RGB Mini LED might be the better option for others.

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After months of teasers and snippets of information, Sony’s first line of RGB Mini LED TVs is finally here.

The Sony Bravia 9 II and the step-down Sony Bravia 7 II use ‘True RGB’ technology, which the company claims can offer “up to four times the colour volume of OLED” – and outdo the brightness of Mini LED.

Sony follows a host of other brands that have thrown their hat into the RGB Mini LED ring, with Hisense, Samsung and TCL all delivering their own take on the technology.

Some brands use two-diode LEDs for their RGB models. These employ green and blue diodes that shine light through a phosphor layer to generate colours.

But Sony is using independently controlled red, green and blue diodes, which the brand claims will deliver a more accurate image.

The TVs are also powered by Sony’s proprietary RGB Backlight Master Drive Pro, which the company says, “drives each LED with high precision, improving brightness, reducing blooming, and producing purer colour than conventional Mini LED displays”.

The Sony Bravia 9 II is the brand’s flagship ‘True RGB’ model.

It claims to reach the same peak brightness levels as the BVM-HX3110 mastering monitor, which goes up to 4000 nits. No official figure has been given for either new TV model, but if it goes as high as the monitor, we could be in for a very bright picture.

The flagship model is also powered by "RGB Triluminos Max and Luminance Booster Pro", which Sony claims delivers "smoother gradation, and accurate hues at higher brightness levels".

You can see the pricing of both the Bravia 7 II and Bravia 9 II below.

The TVs should launch in late spring with pre-orders available now. And we should have US and Australian pricing soon.

Both TVs offer Dolby Atmos and DTS:X support, which gives a comprehensive set of surround sound options.

While Sony says both models offer a three-dimensional audio experience, the Bravia 9 II has the edge with the inclusion of up-firing beam tweeters. The company says this delivers more cinematic surround sound with "powerful depth and true immersion".

You will find Dolby Vision support with both models but, like all Sony TVs, there is no HDR10+ on the cards.

They both also employ X-Wide Angle Pro technology, which Sony says means “colours stay consistent even at wide viewing angles”.

Only available with the Bravia 9 II is the Immersive Black Screen Pro feature, which aims to reduce screen reflections.

Both TVs have a central ‘mirage stand’ which uses a layer of clever transparent material to conceal wires under the base of your screen. This isn't available with the biggest screen sizes, however.

RGB LED TVs have already been dubbed as a possible “OLED killer” by many because of the higher colour volume and brightness claims.

We’ll have to wait until we get both models into our test room to see if the proof is in the pudding – but you can read our first impressions in our Bravia 7 II and Bravia 9 II hands-on reviews.

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A new LG G series TV is always big news, so we were excited to get our hands on the LG G6 for review. It's a big moment for the range. Despite earning five stars in our review, last year's G5 was a little disappointing, finishing in last place in our big four OLED shootout. Hence we were keen to see how this year's model fared.

Of course we never test in isolation – throughout all our reviews, we keep the product's main rivals front of mind. So while the G6 impressed in our review, we're now pitting it against possibly its fiercest rival – the Award-winning Sony Bravia 8 II.

Game on.

LG G6 vs Sony Bravia 8 II: price

The good news is that both the LG G6 and Sony Bravia 8 II are cheaper than their predecessors. But for the new models, there's not much between them.

As you can see, there's no clear winner. At the only sizes in which both TVs are available (55 and 65 inches), the LG is cheaper or the same price in the UK and US, but the Sony is cheaper in Australia.

However, these are launch prices, and the Sony has been available for a few months already, whereas the LG is brand new. But in a further twist, LG's TVs usually see bigger discounts than most rivals, and sooner after launch. So we would expect the LG to be cheaper across the board pretty soon.

** Winner: Draw **

LG G6 vs Sony Bravia 8 II: design

Both TVs look very similar to their predecessors, but then no recent TV has been a massive departure in the design department.

The G6 is designed to be hung on a wall with the Zero Gap wall mount, though you can buy it with a stand as well. It does still look like a picture frame, and while it's something we've seen many times before, it is well made and unobtrusive.

The stand has two height options to accommodate a soundbar, but the remote could do with some updating: it's plasticky and lacks backlighting and USB-C recharging, both of which we expect at this level.

The Sony Bravia 8 II looks quite conventional, and while it's slim for a Sony, it is still thicker than a lot of its rivals. Though unlike them, it does have an actuator-based sound system built in, which creates some pretty great audio.

Its blade-style feet can only sit at the extremities of the TV's bottom edge, so you'll need a surface wide enough to accommodate the set. Measure up before you buy.

Like the G6, these feet can also extend to fit in a soundbar without obstructing the screen. Also like the G6, the Bravia 8 II's remote control also lacks a backlight and the ability to recharge. Disappointing.

** Winner: Draw **

LG G6 vs Sony Bravia 8 II: features

The G6 has the same Primary RGB Tandem OLED panel as its predecessor. This screen tech aims for higher brightness levels (both peak and overall) without sacrificing colour volume and accuracy even during low-light scenes. But this year's model promises to reduce reflections to less than 0.5 per cent, making for better viewing in sunny conditions.

LG's Alpha 11 Gen 3 AI processor brings some improvements, like 20 per cent higher peak brightness, along with better colour accuracy, upscaling, motion handling and tone mapping.

Audio processing has also been given a boost, and the TV has Dolby Atmos FlexConnect functionality for more advanced audio skills. Though there's no Dolby Vision 2 HDR tech (you do get Dolby Vision, HDR10 and HLG).

LG's webOS 26 platform supports all the major streaming services in their optimum versions, and the G6 continues LG's run as a maker of TVs with peerless gaming specs: you get four HDMI 2.1 inputs offering up to 4K/165Hz gameplay with VRR and ALLM, and Dolby Vision Gaming HDR supported.

There are also more game-streaming features to play with, including a new low-latency interface and a dedicated controller developed with Razer (though this costs extra).

Phew. So how does the Sony compare?

It has Sony's 'latest QD-OLED panel’ which helps the set outdo its predecessor by 25 per cent in terms of peak brightness. It also means higher colour volume and better dark gradation.

Sony's XR Processor uses AI to analyse the scene and optimise the picture accordingly, and it has bespoke calibrated modes for the Netflix, Prime Video and Sony Pictures Core streaming services.

You get the same roster of HDR formats as the G6 (with no Dolby Vision 2 or HDR10+), along with Atmos sound (though there's no Atmos FlexConnect). The Bravia 8 II is also certified as IMAX Enhanced, whereas the LG G6 is not.

Gamers get 4K/120Hz, VRR and ALLM, a Dolby Vision Game mode and the ‘Perfect for PlayStation 5’ functionality. But it only has two full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 sockets, one of which doubles as the eARC port. Which could leave some gamers with a separate sound system and more than one console wanting.

Google TV goes toe-to-toe with webOS on the app front, though we do find LG's platform a little slicker. That and the extra gaming chops gives this round to LG.

** Winner: LG G6 **

LG G6 vs Sony Bravia 8 II: picture

Of course this what we really came to see: which TV has the better picture quality?

The G6 impresses from the off, with its bright colours and oodles of dark detail in the murkier bits of the picture.

"Running our tried and true Civil War 4K Blu-ray, the entire screen burns brighter than any previous OLED we've tested, with the American countryside scene offering palpably higher peaks and more vibrant colours," we wrote in our LG G6 review.

"Dark parts of the surrounding foliage offer more detail, too, with every leaf and twig looking sharper and clearly visible."

The image is brighter and more eye-catching, though not necessarily more lifelike. And it does have its issues. A helicopter's flight seems a little too smooth. The extra brightness comes at the expense of some richness, sacrificing some subtle colour gradients and flattening the image somewhat. Even Filmmaker Mode can't eliminate this last issue entirely. And some colour saturation remains, especially with the greens.

Watching Sinners, we see that skin tones have a slight green tinge to them, and we find that darkest parts of the image don't quite go dark enough – they tend to look slightly grey.

The Award-winning Bravia 8 II fares better, improving on its predecessor without introducing any new issues.

While we spent quite a while tinkering with the G6's settings to get it looking its best, the Bravia 8 II is far more easy-going. For authenticity, pick Dolby Vision Dark for Dolby Vision content. For everything else, opt for Professional.

You can tweak further, but it's a case of marginal gains, and most people won't think it worth the effort.

Its picture is superb. Watching Alien: Romulus in Dolby Vision, we see brighter peak highlights with more vibrancy in the colours. "Colours maintain their natural vibrancy in low-light areas, too, such as the bunk in which Cailee Spaeny’s Rain awakens for another glorious day in the employ of the Weyland Yutani corporation," we wrote in our Sony Bravia 8 II review.

The level of shadow detail is impressive, and these elements combine with Sony's AI processing to make the image more solid and three-dimensional. Sinners has none of the skin tone issues we see with the LG G6, and the darkest parts of the picture are dark enough to really have an impact.

Civil War might not look quite as bright as on the G6, but it still looks crisp and vibrant in HDR10 – its flawless reproduction brings out the finest details of skin textures, really adding to the viewing experience.

With the G6, you face a choice between the blackest blacks and a healthy level of dark detail. But the Bravia 8 II gets the balance just right.

** Winner: Sony Bravia 8 II **

LG G6 vs Sony Bravia 8 II: sound

LG's OLEDs haven't impressed us in the audio department, but the G6 is an improvement.

It's notably fuller and more robust-sounding than its predecessors, with plucked guitar strings from a scene in Sinners having some bass, while Preacher Boy's wailing vocals are "nicely audible and separate from background noise", we noted in our review.

There's a decent sense of directionality to the sound, but the low end lacks power, and there's not enough precision. This lack of low-end composure is more evident with Blade Runner 2049, whose synth soundtrack sounds more like a child blowing a raspberry.

The Bravia 8 II is in a different league when it comes to audio. Its Acoustic Surface Audio+ system uses two actuators and two subwoofers to vibrate the screen and place the sound relevant to the picture. It's precise, spacious, and ties in beautifully with what's on screen. To cap it all, it packs bags of detail too, and plenty of dynamic nuance.

It copes much better with Blade Runner 2049's soundtrack than the G6 does, going low and staying composed. It can't match one of the best soundbars for overall impact, but you'll have to spend a decent amount of money to hear a notable improvement on its own sonic skills.

** Winner: Sony Bravia 8 II **

LG G6 vs Sony Bravia 8 II: verdict

There's only one winner here. The Bravia 8 II has a more balanced, better executed picture and a more precise, more spacious sound. The G6 certainly isn't without its charms – its picture has plenty of pop, and it's still the best TV around for gamers. But cinephiles will be better served by the Sony Bravia 8 II.

** Overall winner: Sony Bravia 8 II **

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With what has felt like a never-ending influx of panel technologies over the past couple of years – think Micro Lens Array OLED, RGB Mini LED and Primary RGB Tandem OLED – we've lost sight of the true future of TV panel tech.

Micro LED, which employs millions of microscopic self-immersive LEDs for an OLED-like experience without the drawbacks, has been quietly simmering in the background for years.

While Samsung has been selling its series of The Wall TVs with Micro LED panels for quite some time, the price tags attached have meant that they have been reserved for the super wealthy. We certainly don't see them in physical retail stores very often.

This is where Hisense steps in. The company kindly invited me to a morning spent in Harrods to oggle at its 136-inch MX Micro LED TV, which is set up and running alongside its UXQ RGB Mini LED TVs to tempt customers with deep pockets to invest in the next generation of TV technology.

Now, I appreciate that Harrods isn't a retailer that appeals to the masses – it's certainly not where I do much of my shopping. But this is a luxury TV technology after all, and the price tag reflects it.

At a staggering £119,999, this TV certainly seems to signify Hisense’s intent to move away from the affordable 4K models it has launched in the past, and make its mark on the premium home cinema sector.

Sporting a claimed peak brightness of 10,000 nits (our camera clearly couldn't handle the dazzling brightness) and a sound system tuned by French hi-fi company Devialet, this is an undeniably impressive TV specification-wise. The company even shared some insight into what you can expect if you do buy one of these huge (and expensive) sets.

Getting a 136-inch TV through a standard door is borderline impossible, but the modular nature of Micro LED means you needn't worry about that. According to Hisense, if you purchase one of these TVs, an engineer with the frame and Micro LED panels will arrive at your home and hand assemble the TV in roughly four hours.

For this price, that's the kind of service you'd expect – right?

Hisense does, however, have some competition. Samsung is also showcasing its Micro LED offering at Harrods, so it seems we are inching ever closer to seeing the true successor to OLED hit the mainstream.

I’ve even seen some more living room-friendly Micro LED TVs at the likes of CES and IFA, which scale the screen sizes down to between 65 and 85 inches. They remain concepts for now, but we could see more conventional models such as these in the future.

We'll need those prices to drop first, though – we highly doubt the average consumer will spend six figures on a TV anytime soon.

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As well as the best Mini LED TVs

RGB Mini LED is the TV industry’s big push for 2026.

That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s about to become the best or most popular display technology – but it is the one being marketed most aggressively, with some brands even positioning it as an OLED killer.

I’ve now seen a fair few RGB Mini LED TVs in action, and I’m not yet convinced. The headline benefits – higher brightness and greater colour volume – are fairly clear, but they don’t obviously outweigh OLED’s core advantage: self-emissive pixels.

As I recently reported, LG says “OLED is still king” – though given that its business is deeply tied to OLED panel production, that stance isn’t exactly surprising.

More interesting, then, is the view from Philips.

Danny Tack, Senior Director of Product Strategy and Planning at Philips, which is launching its own RGB Mini LED TV this year, puts it plainly: “We think OLED still is better.”

That aligns with what I’ve seen so far – and Tack boils the difference down to one simple point:

“This [Philips’ MLED981 RGB Mini LED TV] has 11,520 zones, but OLED has, like, 8.2 million zones – because every pixel is a zone. [That means] we can still have much deeper black, more accurate black.

“Although [the MLED981] is pretty good, pretty well tuned, and there are so many [dimming] segments, there will still be, here and there, a danger of a halo, and a border of the dimming zone.”

That’s the crux of it. Even with thousands of dimming zones, Mini LED still can’t match OLED’s pixel-level precision – so issues such as blooming and imperfect blacks don’t disappear entirely.

Philips is a particularly useful voice in this debate because it produces TVs across all major panel technologies. And Tack, in particular, has a reputation for prioritising picture quality over all else.

So why launch an RGB Mini LED TV at all?

As with LG, the answer is largely about size and price. As Tack explains, the MLED981 is aimed at “somebody who wants a big screen size, good picture quality, and a more affordable price – the bigger the screen size, the more affordable Mini LED is over an OLED.”

Accordingly, Philips is (at least initially) launching the MLED981 only as an 85-inch model – the size at which OLED prices rise sharply and become truly out of reach for most buyers.

Mini LED also still has two notable advantages: brightness and colour volume.

“You could say also in terms of full-screen brightness, Mini LED is better than OLED – 800 nits versus OLED, which is now reaching 450 nits – so under bright conditions, this might be a better offer,” Tack says.

“Colours [are also] a bit more intense, but then again, at an angle, compared to OLED, less so. There are lots of pros and cons.”

In other words, RGB Mini LED absolutely has its place – particularly if it’s a very big, very bright, and relatively affordable TV that you’re after.

But on balance, Philips’ view is clear – and it’s one I share: right now, OLED remains the benchmark for overall picture quality.

Could RGB Mini LED overtake it? Possibly – perhaps even this year. Sony, in particular, is talking a big game with its True RGB technology.

For now, though, OLED remains the TV technology to beat.

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Here's why I think the Philips OLED951 could be the TV of the year

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It’s early days for 2026 TVs, with some brands (Sony, for one) yet to reveal their full ranges – but I’ve already spotted a front-runner for TV of the year, and it’s probably not the model you’re expecting.

The model I’m talking about is the Philips OLED951.

In picture terms, this is Philips’ flagship TV for 2026, and while many brands seem to be taking a fairly evolutionary approach to their OLEDs this year, Philips is really pushing the boat out.

On paper, it ticks almost every box: picture performance, gaming features, spectacular flourishes and future-proofing.

Of course, there’s no guarantee that the on-paper promise will translate to real-world perfection, and we’ll have to conduct a full review before we can deliver our verdict on that.

But, having now briefly seen it in action, I think there’s a good chance the OLED951 can really deliver.

Here, then, are seven reasons I think this Philips flagship OLED could end up being the TV of 2026.

It’s an OLED

An obvious one this, but the Philips OLED951 is… well… an OLED.

That’s a good thing in my book. The RGB Mini LED invasion is upon us, and there are some very good RGB Mini LEDs already out and on the way (including one from Philips), but I’m yet to see any evidence that the technology’s various strengths are a match for the pixel-level contrast control of OLED.

Perfect black pixels next to bright white or coloured ones make for unbeatable contrast, which has benefits right across the picture, particularly in terms of solidity and perceived three-dimensionality.

An OLED-beating RGB Mini LED TV might one day materialise – I’m open to that – but I predict that in 2026, at least, the best TV will be an OLED.

Brighter than the LG G6

We’ve written plenty of times about how brightness is a long way from the most important thing for a TV to deliver.

Still, lots of brightness headroom can be useful for a TV to deliver the goods in a brightly lit room. It also adds a degree of future-proofing, just in case Hollywood suddenly starts mastering lots of movies to 4000 nits (something I see very little evidence of, for what it’s worth).

Brightness isn’t going to be an issue for the OLED951, though, because Philips claims it can hit a peak brightness figure of 4500 nits, and a full-screen brightness of 400 nits.

Those are improvements over last year’s already very bright OLED950 of 800 and 50 nits, respectively.

Those figures, if achieved, will also make the OLED951 a good deal brighter than the LG G6, which shares a ‘Meta 4.0’ Primary RGB Tandem OLED panel with it – something that Philips says is down to its unique picture engine.

But will those figures be achieved? Having seen the OLED951 running against the OLED950 (see the photo above), it certainly looks like it. The OLED951 looked so much brighter that the figures given actually seem conservative.

And this isn’t just brightness for the sake of brightness, either, because, as we’ve seen in our own testing, when increased brightness is combined with OLED’s perfect black and pixel-level light control, the result is even greater contrast, which, as mentioned above, tends to make images look more solid and three-dimensional.

That was certainly the case in the side-by-side demo – the OLED951 really popped.

Four HDMI 2.1 sockets and custom settings for every game

Finally, Philips’ flagship OLEDs (and most of its other models, in fact) will have four HDMI 2.1 sockets.

These will all be able to accept gaming signals of up to 4K/165Hz, complete with VRR and HDR, including in the Dolby Vision format.

Sure, LG and Samsung have been offering OLEDs with four HDMI 2.1 sockets for years, but when combined with everything else the OLED951 offers (more of which I’ll get to), that still makes it a tantalising proposition for gamers.

Another feature that will appeal to gamers like me is the ability to customise settings for individual titles.

These settings can be designed to improve the picture (extra brightness and vibrancy for Rocket League, perhaps, and a darker, broodier presentation for Alan Wake II), give you an advantage over online rivals (through an onscreen crosshair or enhanced shadow detail, for instance), or deliver geeky gaming info such as the current frame rate.

If you’re a gaming picture quality obsessive, that’s very neat.

Ambilight and AmbiScape

Look, I know it’s not to everyone’s taste, and I certainly don’t think it makes sense for all content, but Ambilight – which extends the onscreen action onto the wall around the TV in the form of coloured light – remains a spectacular feature.

And now your room lights can be synchronised with what you’re watching more easily, too. This isn’t an entirely new feature, but previously, you needed Hue bulbs.

Now, thanks to the new AmbiScape feature, lights that conform to the Matter standard will be supported – and there are loads of those. That will make it far more affordable and flexible to get your lounge lights in on the Ambilight action.

Again, this won’t be an upgrade for all content, but play the aforementioned Rocket League, and it’s impossible not to get an extra thrill when a goal creates a flash of brilliant colour right across your room. It works brilliantly for colourful animated movies, too, such as the Spider-Verse series.

Dolby Vision 2

Will Dolby Vision 2 be a big deal in 2026? There’s a strong possibility it won’t be, as we’ve still had no news on actual content in the format.

It is coming at some point, though, and our first looks at it in action have been very impressive, so if you’re buying a TV this year, it’s well worth considering going for a model that supports the format.

That makes Philips’ new OLED951, OLED911 and OLED811 particularly appealing, because they will be the first OLED TVs to support Dolby Vision 2. In fact, they will also support the even more advanced Dolby Vision 2 Max, which adds, among other things, the very interesting Authentic Motion feature.

The Dolby Vision 2 and 2 Max support will be added via a post-launch software update (October is the current ETA), but don’t go thinking that 2026 OLEDs from other brands will follow suit: Dolby Vision 2 also needs to be baked into the hardware, and based on what we’ve been told so far, this hasn’t been done in the case of, for example, LG’s new models.

Excellent anti-reflection tech

Fighting reflections is a key theme in current TV development.

It’s probably fair to say that Samsung is best at it: its top OLEDs suppress reflections incredibly effectively.

But it does this by using a matte panel, and that tends to make blacks look quite grey in a well-lit room.

The new Meta 4.0 OLED panel from LG Display, though, suppresses more reflections than the previous version while still retaining the glossy finish that allows it to produce almost perfect blacks, even in strong ambient light.

According to official figures, the reflectance has been reduced from 0.6 per cent to 0.3 per cent. That doesn’t sound like a huge change, but in reality, it makes a clear difference.

We first saw this new anti-reflection tech in the G6, which massively impressed us with its combination of reflection suppression and deep blacks, and it looked equally excellent in the demo of the OLED951 against last year’s OLED950.

This is one of those things that really comes down to taste, with some people being perfectly happy with the matte look of the Samsung models. I personally prefer the glossy look, though, and the new panel in the LG G6 and Philips OLED951 strikes the best balance of anti-reflectivity and black performance that I’ve so far seen.

Dual Engine picture processing

Those already in the know about Philips’ 2026 TV lineup might be wondering why I’m getting all excited about the OLED951 rather than the OLED911.

After all, everything I’ve written so far also applies to the OLED911, and the OLED911 also has a Bowers & Wilkins sound system that, if form is to be believed, will make it one of, if not the, best-sounding TV in its class.

The reason is that the OLED951 has the Dual Engine version of Philips’ new 10th Gen P5 AI processor, whereas the OLED911 has the single-chip version. This unlocks some extra picture processing features that should further improve certain things, such as bright details and banding suppression.

The difference perhaps won’t be huge – we’ll need to fully test both models to find out – but as someone who subscribes to the ‘all TVs should be partnered with a dedicated sound system’ philosophy, I’ll always choose the potential for better picture quality over a better sound system.

You may feel differently, of course, and that’s fine. If that’s the case, I strongly recommend you read Lewis Empson’s Philips OLED911 hands-on.

That also looks like an excellent TV – but on paper (and from what I’ve seen of it so far), the OLED951 is the one that ticks every box for me.

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Here are all of the best TVs you can buy right now

Could Sony's True RGB be the RGB Mini LED tech to beat OLED?

Happy Monday, and welcome to another entry in our weekly Rewind, hi-fi and home cinema news digest.

And what a week we had. As well as finishing testing one of 2026’s most interesting flagship OLED TVs, we got a sneak peek at Sony’s next-generation home cinema tech and saw a British hi-fi heavyweight unveil a new modular line of speakers.

Here’s everything you need to know.

LG’s flagship OLED is good, not great

With Sony unlikely to unveil a Bravia 8 II successor, and Panasonic only having one new, entry-level OLED TV coming this year, the LG G6 is a big deal.

It’s one of just three new, big-name flagship OLEDs set to arrive this year, sitting alongside the Samsung S95H and Philips 911.

While we’ve had in-person, hands-on demos with all three, the G6 is the first we’ve managed to fully review in our dedicated viewing rooms.

We found a lot to like about the G6, which delivers a punchy, bombastic picture, but its overt focus on brightness above all else does bring some issues with it – ones that will put off cinephiles that want an authentic, “as the director intended” home cinema experience.

Read our full LG G6 review

A look at Sony’s next-gen TV tech

We’ve heard a lot about RGB Mini LED since early prototype sets with the tech started appearing last year. But this week we got a chance to chat to Sony about its plans for the tech, which it's decided to refer to as “True RGB”.

At a press event in Japan, attended by our TV and AV editor, Tom Parsons, the brand declined to give any info on specific models but it did confirm new True RGB TVs will go on sale “eventually” – and that it had been working on the tech behind closed doors for a staggering 20 years.

Apparently, it’s not interested in being “first”, as rival Hisense is; it wants to be the best.

We also got a chance to see a prototype model running alongside its four-star flagship Mini LED, the Bravia 9, which certainly gave us food for thought.

Read the full story: Sony's new True RGB TV looks amazing in action, but is it an OLED killer?

Modular speakers from Cambridge Audio

Cambridge Audio surprised us with a sort of new line of MSX modular speakers. Why sort of? Because under the hood they feature near-identical hardware to the firm’s older Minx range.

Consisting of MSX10 and MSX20 satellite speakers, and MSX Sub 200 and 300 subwoofers, the idea is that you can mix and match the units, even stacking them on top of one another, to create custom setups. Or, using an AV receiver, turn them into a surround sound package.

Read the full story: The Cambridge Audio MSX refreshes the Minx range of compact modular speakers

There’s yet another portable cassette player coming

Whether it’s Gen Z’s sudden interest in wired headphones, the long-promised CD revival, or the ongoing popularity of vinyl, retro audio tech is hot right now.

Which is probably why Gadhouse decided to get in on the action and launch the Miko Cassette Player last week. Well, that and the 200 per cent increase in tape sales.

Similar in kind to We Are Rewind's Edith, the Miko is a dinky tape deck with Bluetooth functionality, allowing you to enjoy the retro tech with your wireless headphones.

There is also a 3.5mm input for people looking to go the whole hog and use a pair of wired headphones.

Unsurprisingly, Gadhouse suggests pairing them with a pair of its 80s-inspired Wesley wired headphones…

Read the full story: This portable cassette player blends retro charm with wireless convenience

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Our picks of the best OLED TVs

We rank the best surround sound packages

We're almost a third of the way through 2026, and if there's one takeaway from the world of TVs, it's that maybe too much is happening.

I'm deeply immersed in the release schedules and latest technologies tied to the likes of Samsung, LG, Sony, Philips, Panasonic, Hisense and TCL, and yet even I'm finding 2026 to be one of the most confusing years for TVs to date.

Part of that is a good thing, as we're getting lots of exciting innovations this year, which are sure to define generations of TVs to come, but they're ultimately meaningless if the messaging is unclear.

I've been catching up with the brands mentioned above since January, getting behind-the-scenes access to some of the more exciting TVs to launch this year. But, despite my extensive access to TV experts from said brands, I still have plenty of unanswered questions...

RGB Mini LED: mid-range marvel or premium panel tech?

The biggest TV news of 2026 is that practically every TV manufacturer is launching new backlit TVs with this state-of-the-art panel technology.

RGB Mini LED looks to be the successor to Quantum Dot Mini LED, as it strips away the QLED layer and swaps a white backlight for individual red, green and blue LEDs in the pursuit of greater colour accuracy and backlight control.

On paper, this sounds great, and we've even seen a few impressive sets, including the Hisense UR8 and TCL RM9L, in action. We've also just been treated to a demo of Sony's True RGB system.

The issue is that these companies can't decide where to position RGB Mini LED. And this lack of clarity on its place in the pecking order is already causing confusion.

Samsung and Hisense seem to be championing it as flagship technology, meaning it's reserved for premium models that sit alongside (or, in some cases, above) OLED TVs. Samsung's R95H appears to sit alongside the brand's S95H QD-OLED this year, which can only signify that the Korean AV giant sees it as a top-of-the-line technology.

Philips and LG, on the other hand, maintain that it sits below their respective OLEDs. Philips has been more open about this, as it claims "OLED is still the reference", and the company's mid-range MLED981 sits below even the entry-level OLED761.

So, which one is it? Is this new panel tech best suited to flagships? Or is it not capable of challenging even some of the most affordable OLEDs on the market?

Is OLED in trouble?

We were blindsided by two prominent OLED TV manufacturers, Sony and Panasonic, essentially selling off their TV businesses to Chinese firms, TCL and Skyworth. The latter is only handling Panasonic's European TV division.

Both Japanese giants are known for producing high-quality, and often fairly pricey, OLED TVs, but that may be about to change. While we can't speak entirely for Sony, we do know TCL's firm anti-OLED stance (specifically for TVs, the company uses OLED for mobile and automotive displays), so we don't have high hopes.

What we can presume is that Sony likely won't launch a premium OLED TV this year, as it now employs an unconventional release schedule, where each model is only refreshed every two or three years – or in the case of the A90K, possibly longer. The Bravia 8 II launched last year, so we expect this to stick around until 2027.

Speaking of not launching a new premium OLED, Panasonic confirmed that the Z95B will continue as its flagship offering in 2026. As it stands, the entry-level Z86C will be the only new OLED from the legendary Japanese AV company this year.

Pair that with the LG G6 being the first in the series to not score five stars (you can read our full LG G6 65-inch review here), things are already looking interesting for this year's What Hi-Fi? Awards judging process.

All we'll say is that it's a good job that the LG C6 is a simply superb OLED TV, as it might be among a modest cohort of new models this year.

Is Dolby Vision 2 really coming this year?

The final slightly baffling hot topic in the TV world is Dolby Vision 2. Now, I've seen it in action a couple of times, and I have to say that it looks superb, but there are so many unanswered questions.

Hisense and TCL were announced as launch partners at IFA 2026, and yet neither referenced it at their respective launch events in Europe last month. Furthermore, when questioned about it, Hisense confirmed that it should be coming to its 2026 TVs, but possibly not at launch. Instead, it'll likely be added via a software update down the line.

Philips, on the other hand, made no qualms about Dolby Vision 2 Max being supported on its 2026 OLEDs, including the OLED911. This feels more promising, especially when LG and Sony have remained especially tight-lipped about the new HDR format for quite some time.

There is, of course, the issue of Dolby Vision 2 content. To our knowledge, the only services that will support Dolby Vision 2 are Canal+ and NBC's Peacock service, neither of which really has the mainstream draw of Netflix, Disney+ or Amazon Prime Video.

It is, of course, early days, so we could see more services pick the format up, but the creation of Dolby Vision 2 content is still a mystery right now.

Looking to a buy a TV now? Here's my advice...

If you're in the market for a TV now, my honest advice would be to hold out until we gain a little more clarity.

The best TV that we've tested this year (so far) is the LG C6, and while it is brilliant, it's also expensive right now. We expect this price to drop steadily throughout the year, as the C5 and C4 did, so your patience should be rewarded.

We're also yet to review any of the new RGB Mini-LED models, so if you can wait until we make a judgment on these upcoming TVs, we'd recommend doing so. It's entirely possible that RGB Mini LED could surpass OLED in terms of picture performance, but we won't know until we try them ourselves.

And if you're confused by the state of the TV world in 2026, then don't worry – we live and breathe TVs here, and even we're feeling a bit overwhelmed.

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Read our full LG C6 65-inch review

The LG C series is a bit of a mess right now, and it's all the better for it

Check out our picks for the best OLED TVs

Sony has announced that its new RGB Mini LED TVs are finally almost here, and they will go by the name ‘True RGB’.

A clear swipe at those brands that Sony deems to be doing this new technology in a less genuine way, ‘True RGB’ is designed to illustrate that this is the real deal.

As Sony not so subtly puts it: "Our goal isn't to be first – it's to be true."

Last month, I visited Sony's Tokyo HQ to get the low-down on the new True RGB TV tech.

During that trip, Neil King, Director of Sony Home Entertainment Europe, explained that, unlike some RGB Mini LED solutions, “we are going to have three independently controllable RGB diodes, and from a colour point of view, it will be true”.

He continued, “We are about accuracy, always about accuracy, so we are going to have precise reproduction to get both the colour and brightness across."

King also added that True RGB is designed to deliver this accuracy in all conditions: "It’s about true vision in any living room environment, so ensuring the consistency of the brightness, the contrast and the colour in whatever room and whatever angle.”

I have seen the brand’s first True RGB TVs in action, but I’m not currently permitted to publish model names, sizes, specs or design information.

But Sony has offered some information on what it feels makes its True RGB technology different to the RGB Mini LED tech of other brands.

First, some (but certainly not all) brands use two-diode LEDs for their RGB models. These actually feature green and blue diodes that shine light through a phosphor layer to generate desired colours.

Sony's True RGB TVs instead use true, independently controlled red, green and blue diodes, which it says deliver that aforementioned accuracy.

Sony also claims that RGB Mini LED TV performance is dictated by LED density and the algorithm controlling them, and not the size of the LEDs.

On the algorithm side, Sony has developed a new backlight drive, which I will be able to detail further at a later date.

And in terms of density, Sony has achieved a spacing of around 1cm between its three-diode RGB LEDs. Each diode is "several hundred micrometres" in size, which is so tiny that, Sony claims, shrinking them by even another 100 micrometres would have "no meaningful impact on picture quality".

In other words, Sony is saying that we shouldn't get carried away by rival brands that claim their TVs have the smallest, or 'micro', LEDs.

Sony is also keen to point out that its True RGB TVs have nothing to do with TV tech fashion, and are instead the culmination of a long-term project.

Indeed, not only did I see its RGB Mini LED tech in prototype form over a year ago, but Sony has been on this journey since 2004, when it launched the Qualia 005 – the first commercially available TV with an RGB LED backlight.

As Yoshihiro Ono, the Head of Sony’s Home Entertainment Business Unit, put it on this more recent visit to Tokyo, “[this] brings together our history, and also our latest innovation”.

In fact, Daisuke Nezu, who is now Senior General Manager of Sony’s Home Product Business Division, points out that his very first assignment at Sony was the Qualia TV.

It’s this experience that Sony feels is key to the superiority of its RGB Mini LED technology.

As JT Austin, Sony’s Technology Manager for Sony North America, puts it, “We’ve really been evolving not only colour but also LED technology for the last two decades, which has all led us to this moment.”

During my visit, which I will be able to write about in detail at a later date, Sony demonstrated its True RGB backlight against two rivals that I’m not allowed to name at this stage, but that have been leading the Mini LED RGB charge up to this point.

By revealing the backlights of all three TVs, Sony was able to demonstrate that one of these rivals was switching its Mini LEDs from colour to white in all but full-screen colour test windows, and that the other was way off with trickier colours such as cyan and pink.

The Sony True RGB TV, on the other hand, looked incredible, with its backlight reproducing the colours required by the image with exceptional accuracy.

Full-screen coloured test windows were vibrant and correct, but the degree to which multiple colours can coexist in complex images (a bunch of flowers, for example) is something else.

You can read more about that in my Sony True RGB first impressions piece, and I will be writing much more on this, including specific models and specs, once further embargoes have been lifted.

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Check out the full Sony True RGB hands-on

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Sony has just officially announced its first RGB Mini LED TVs, under the punchy name 'True RGB'.

Actually, that's not entirely true: what Sony has announced is the 'True RGB' name and some broad info on the technology, such as the fact it features true, independently controlled red, green and blue diodes, and that it will feature "new backlight drive" technology.

What Sony hasn't announced is specific models, specs, release dates or pricing – that info will come at a later date.

Despite that rather odd situation, I have actually already seen the flagship Sony True RGB TV in action at Sony's Tokyo HQ – and in quite some detail.

I've seen it running side-by-side with a Bravia 9, with the backlights of both TVs exposed; I've seen it running against RGB Mini LED TVs from rival brands, again with the backlights exposed; and I've even seen how it handles real movie content alongside a Bravia 9 and Sony's mastering monitor.

That's pretty unprecedented access to a pre-release TV, and it's illustrative of Sony's confidence in its RGB Mini LED push.

Broadly speaking, I think that confidence is very well placed, but I do have a couple of reservations.

Before I get to the meat of the hands-on experience, though, some housekeeping: while I'm free to write about my impressions of the True RGB TV's performance, I'm not currently allowed to go into detail about the technology behind it, beyond what I've already said about it featuring true red, green and blue diodes in the backlight.

I'm not permitted to discuss other specs either. Or the design. And my photos, which I was only allowed to take in one of the three test rooms, had to be taken from a distance so as not to reveal any of those details.

All of that stuff will be revealed further down the line, of course, but for now, let's just focus on picture performance.

Sony True RGB vs the Bravia 9

The first stop on our True RGB test tour was the room you can see in the image above.

Here, a 75-inch Bravia 9 was placed on the floor alongside a 75-inch True RGB TV. Above each was a sample with the LCD layer removed, revealing the backlight.

Hopefully, you can easily see the profound difference in the way the backlights work.

With the Bravia 9, on the left, you can see that the backlight is only contributing differing amounts of blue light. Shapes are fairly vague, as they largely blend into one another.

With the True RGB TV on the right, the expression of colour from the backlight alone is exceptional, and when combined with granular brightness control, this makes the shapes of the image much clearer.

The way this translates to the actual picture performance is in punchier, richer and more consistent colours. The image from the True RGB model is generally brighter, too, with no discernible loss of black depth.

Sony played demo clip after demo clip, and the degree to which I could discern what was in each image by looking at the True RGB backlight alone was never less than extremely impressive. Take another look at the photo at the top of this page for another great example.

Sony True RGB vs rivals

The second True RGB demo session was all about comparisons with rival RGB Mini LED TVs. I'm not permitted to mention the competitor brands, let alone the specific models, but let's just say they're all pioneers of RGB Mini LED tech – even though they might not use that term in their branding.

Sony's goal here was to illustrate one of its key True RGB claims: that "performance depends on LED density and algorithm, not LED size".

At the sort of density it has achieved with its True RGB TV – around 1cm between LEDs – even a 100 micrometre reduction in size would have "no meaningful impact on picture quality", according to Sony.

Furthermore, the new backlight drive that controls how the LEDs perform is what Sony says really sets its True RGB solution apart from its competitors.

To illustrate this, Sony ran various test clips through its True RGB TV and two of these competitors, with a patch of the backlight of each TV exposed.

With one of the competitors, the backlight would switch from full colour to white once the size of the on-screen image was reduced from 100 per cent to about 80 per cent.

This model's backlight also struggled to express colours during real-world footage. Frankly, most of the time, it was barely more colourful than white.

It also allowed the background colour of an image to badly affect the element in the centre, so a man's face would change colour significantly, based on whether the rest of the image was red, green, blue, etc.

The other competitor fared better in these tests, but it was still far from perfect. Its biggest issue was inconsistency in its handling of different colours: green and red, for example, looked perfect, but colours such as cyan and pink were very pale.

This second competitor's backlight also struggled to express convincing colours with real-world content, though less so than the first.

The Sony True RGB TV performed impeccably through all of these tests. Each bold colour was delivered accurately and consistently, regardless of window size, and the expression of colour with real-world content was stunning.

The "colour shift" was practically non-existent in the image of the man against the various coloured backgrounds, too, and through every demo, the Sony was brighter as well as more consistent and vibrant in its colours.

Sony claims that its True RGB tech is also superior in terms of viewing angles, and this is where the third competitor set came in.

This rival suffered badly with blooming and a loss of vibrancy when viewed off-axis, whereas the Sony remained punchy and controlled at even wide angles.

Sony True RGB vs a mastering monitor

Our final stop on the Sony True RGB tour was a blacked-out room containing the True RGB TV, a Bravia 9 and a Sony BVM-HX3110 mastering monitor. No exposed backlights, no demo material – just real movie content split across the three screens.

Both TVs were in their 'Professional' preset, which is essentially Sony's equivalent of Filmmaker Mode, and is designed to deliver the most accurate picture possible, which really means getting as close to the mastering monitor as possible.

In that regard, the True RGB TV was a clear winner. Its colours were far closer to those of the BVM-HX3110, its viewing angles were much better than those of the Bravia 9, and its blooming was almost non-existent.

The blooming point is an interesting one, I think. While the Bravia 9 is very controlled, the fact that it uses white LEDs means you can get a bit of a white glow around intense coloured highlights on a very dark background, such as the red light in a dark room in Black Widow.

But because the True RGB TV uses coloured light, any glow around highlights is in the same colour as the highlight itself, resulting in a far subtler and more natural effect.

Overall, it was deeply impressive how closely the new True RGB TV emulated the performance of the mastering monitor, while boosting it to a far larger scale, but I do still have a couple of minor concerns about its performance.

First, when Lewis Empson and I reviewed the Bravia 9, we noted that, as a whole, it lacked the solidity, density and three-dimensionality of OLED, and nothing I've seen so far suggests that the True RGB TV is better in this regard.

Ultimately, I strongly suspect these characteristics come from OLED's pixel-level contrast control, which a backlit TV will simply never be able to match.

It's also the case that while the new True RGB TV appears to be able to produce deeper blacks in tricky mixed light images than the Bravia 9 can, it still doesn’t seem able to match an OLED here, either.

Many will argue that True RGB’s advantages over OLED outweigh its disadvantages, and they could well be right. That’s something I’m very much looking forward to putting to the test when we get a final production sample in for comparative testing.

Early verdict

It is worth bearing in mind, of course, that Sony's True RGB TV hasn't even been named yet, so there's likely lots more refinement to come before it hits shops – and before we fully review a production sample in our dedicated test rooms.

And, even at this stage, it looks like a deeply impressive technical achievement that adds 'true' RGB LEDs and next-gen colour control to the envelope-pushing backlighting of the Bravia 9.

Is True RGB an OLED killer? I'm not yet entirely convinced by that, but it certainly appears to take backlit TVs to new, super-vibrant heights – and Sony bringing its picture processing magic and cinematic authenticity to bear in the realm of RGB Mini LED TVs is something to be very excited about indeed.

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Here are all of the best TVs you can buy right now

April is finally here, which means we’re oh so close to it finally being summer, where we can dust off our BBQ aprons and enjoy the two minutes of sunshine we get each year (in Blighty).

But for our team of hi-fi and home cinema experts, there’s no respite in sight, at least if March is anything to go on, as we’re still seeing a flood of new hardware in our viewing and listening rooms. Over the past 30 days, a staggering five products earned five-star ratings.

And while we love the symmetry, that’s a lot of new products to keep track of, which is why we’ve penned a fresh entry into our regular Pick of the Month column, detailing everything you need to know about our reviewers’ latest recommendations.

LG C6 (OLED65C6)

The LG C6 is the latest step-down OLED from the Korean home cinema giant responsible for not one, but three of last year’s What Hi-Fi? Award-winning TVs. So it has some pretty big shoes to fill.

Thankfully, while its specifications sheet makes it look like a very minor upgrade on the outgoing, and now cheaper, LG C5, the C6 managed to impress our reviewers from the moment they unboxed it.

Brighter and a smidgeon more accurate, with every test disc we noticed a number of subtle improvements that make it the new benchmark for 2026. Hence its new prime position in our best OLED TV guide, and our reviewers’ verdict:

“The improvements aren’t so massive that an owner of a recent C-series model (or one of its closest competitors) should feel the need to immediately upgrade, but if you are in the market for a step-down OLED, the LG C6 is the new benchmark. And it’s a benchmark that its rivals will find very hard to match, let alone surpass.”

Rating: five stars

Read our full LG C6 (OLED65C6) review

Moon 371

Though aficionados have traditionally turned their nose up at them, there’s a lot to like about streaming amps. All the sonic grunt you need to power stereo speakers, paired with the handy ability to stream from your music provider of choice (ours is Tidal).

And last month, we were treated to a true specimen of a streaming amp in the shape of the Moon 371, which proves the category has a place in the enthusiast market as well as more casual circles.

Featuring an eye-catching design, all the streaming smarts you need, and being capable of delivering a fluid, refined sound full of expressive dynamics, it’s well worth any hi-fi fan considering. Hence our verdict:

“Moon has done a great job with the 371 streaming amplifier. It is a neat and stylish package that ticks all the boxes as far as features go, while being a pleasure to use. Add the excellent sound quality into the equation, and it becomes a proper alternative to the best streamer/amplifier separates combinations on the market.”

Rating: five stars

Read our full Moon 371 review

Valerion VisionMaster Pro 2

Valerion is a relative newcomer to the projector market, having started life as a Kickstarter project back in 2024.

Which is why we’re happy to see it come out of the gate strong with the VisionMaster Pro 2, the first Valerion product we’ve ever tested.

Part of the growing wave of “home cinema in a box" projectors flooding the market, the Vision Master 2 sits in the same class as the BenQ X3100i, which we continue to use as a reference point in our viewing rooms.

The idea is simple: give people all the hardware they need to power a movie night in a single box. And as a result, the intimidating-looking unit comes packed with a lot of hardware. Highlights include a triple (RGB) laser lighting system feeding into a 4K-capable DLP optical set-up, and a stereo 12W speaker system.

And, in the real world, despite the company’s youth, the VisionMaster Pro 2 is a very competitive performer capable of delivering a punchy, immersive home cinema experience.

As we said in our review: “From its picture quality to its design, features and even audio performance, the VisionMaster Pro 2 consistently punches above its weight.”

Rating: five stars

Read our full Valerion VisionMaster Pro 2

Yamaha YH-4000

In hi-fi terms, the YH-4000 are in a tough spot. Like the poor saps who played straight after Eddie Van Halen stunned fans at the band’s first gig, with his never-before-seen guitar tapping technique, they have a hard act to top in the shape of the five-star YH-5000SE.

But by striking a lot of the same chords as their Award-winning siblings, while simultaneously carrying a lower price tag, they managed to truly win our reviewers over.

Featuring the same 50mm orthodynamic (planar magnetic) driver as their higher-end sibling and a near identical design, the subtle cuts Yamaha has made are the right ones and let the YH-4000 deliver a solid, albeit occasionally clinical performance.

Whether it was bopping pop, booming rock or complex classical arrangements, paired with a price-appropriate source the headphones delivered impressive levels of clarity, definition and sonic agility.

As we said in our review: “The Yamaha YH-4000 set new standards for the price when it comes to detail resolution and composure. They are wonderfully comfortable, too.”

Rating: five stars

Read our full Yamaha YH-4000 review

Rotel DX-5

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I’ve spent the week on the continent scouting the very latest Mini LED TVs from the two biggest Chinese AV brands.

Hisense and TCL have always been arch-rivals, but their respective lineups have always been fairly closely aligned.

While LG, Sony, Philips and Panasonic have traditionally sung OLED's praises, TCL and Hisense have championed Mini LED as the “superior” panel technology.

That usually manifests in a lineup with a flagship and various step-down QLED TVs; take last year’s TCL C8K and Hisense U8Q, which were direct competitors at the top of each company’s respective ranges, and the C7K and U7Q Pro, which were equivalent step-down models.

However, it’s looking like that’s all changing in 2026, and it’s all thanks to the latest innovation in Mini LED panel tech.

I began my week with Hisense in Munich, where I was exposed to the blindingly bright and lusciously colourful UR9 and UR8 RGB Mini LED TVs. Hisense made it very clear that it wants to be the brand that people think of when they consider an RGB Mini LED TV, and it even claimed its stake as the originator of the panel technology.

The UR9 and UR8 boast claimed peak brightnesses of 4000 and 3500 nits, respectively, alongside Pantone-verified colours and refresh rates up to a staggering 180Hz. I think it’s fair to say that these are on the bleeding edge of backlit TVs right now.

But TCL, which I met up with in Paris for its Nxt Home event, begs to differ. It’s touting the latest generation of “traditional” QLED-equipped Mini LED as the champion.

It’s calling this technology Super Quantum Dot Mini LED – or SQD-Mini LED for short – and it brings more dimming zones and higher brightness figures to the table compared to the previous generation of Mini LED TVs we've seen.

TCL claims that its flagship, the X11L, sports up to 20,736 local dimming zones and 10,000 nits peak brightness on the 98-inch variant.

And this panel tech isn’t just reserved for the flagship spot, as the upcoming C8L and C7L (successors to the five-star C8K and Award-winning C7K, respectively) will also get a version of this tech (albeit with fewer dimming zones and lower brightness figures), meaning there’s a full lineup of SQD-Mini LED TVs on the horizon.

On paper, that blows Hisense’s RGB out of the water, but the plot thickens when we look at TCL’s RM9L and RM7L. These TVs sit in a slightly confusing, somewhat vague place in TCL's lineup, and they both feature RGB Mini LED panels; TCL is even calling them "Premium RGB Mini LED TVs".

Interestingly, TCL states that the RM9L uses a more advanced version of RGB Mini LED, with each colour having two LEDs rather than just one. Other manufacturers may already be using this technology, but if they are, they've certainly kept quiet about it.

That being said, TCL doesn’t seem all that bothered by the new panel technology, and it almost seems to be launching RGB Mini LED TVs out of a sense of obligation.

You’d think that TCL, which has previously done everything in its power to offer cutting-edge Mini LED technology in its TVs, would be chomping at the bit to bring TVs with this highly anticipated panel tech to the market, and yet it’s taken the very opposite approach to Hisense.

In fact, during a demo in which it placed two of its TVs (the X11L and RM9L) against a Samsung Neo-QLED, a Sony QD-OLED and a Hisense RGB Mini LED, it maintained the position that the SQD-Mini LED is the superior panel tech thanks to its richer, purer colours and higher brightness capabilities.

While that was technically true for full-screen colour demo content, when it came to actually playing some proper video demo content – in this instance, a reel of Las Vegas landmarks against the night sky – the QD-OLED was clearly the best of the bunch.

But I digress. The real surprise is how differently these companies are approaching RGB Mini LED. One sees it as the future, whereas the other sees it as a lesser alternative to the latest version of QD-Mini LED.

This extends into other brands, too. Samsung is leveraging RGB Mini LED for its premium TVs, whereas LG is positioning it below its OLEDs. Philips is taking a closer approach to LG, whereas Sony is somewhat of a mystery, as it's remaining tight-lipped about its RGB Mini LED TV plans.

This is creating quite a rift in the world of TV. One company tells me that it’s the future and should be used in pricey top-of-the-range models, whereas others tell me it’s “just another LCD TV at the end of the day”.

That quote comes from LG Display, which has an understandable bias towards OLED, but it’s an interesting perspective to take when its sister company, LG Electronics, is primed to launch its own RGB Mini LED TVs.

This inconsistency is what worries me, as it likely won’t inspire confidence in prospective TV buyers.

OLED’s position is clear; it's reserved for premium TVs at the top end of most manufacturers’ lineups, but even I’m starting to doubt whether RGB Mini LED is being touted as the new top dog, or if it's destined for mid-range models.

MORE:

Read our Hisense UR8 hands on review

As well as our TCL RM9L hands on review

Check out our picks for the best Mini LED TV

While it’s only been around for the blink of an eye by AV standards, having started out in ultra-modern fashion on Kickstarter in 2024, Valerion has already come a long way.

It was officially announced as the premium ‘sub-brand’ of slightly longer-in-the-tooth projector brand AWOL Vision in May 2025, and it’s now already onto its second generation of products.

That second generation of products includes the first Valerion model to ever grace our review pages: the VisionMaster Pro 2.

With a grand name like VisionMaster Pro, a gleaming design that feels like it could go ten rounds with a Sherman Tank and still look catwalk-ready, and not one but two genuine performance boosting updates recently tucked under its belt, Valerion’s latest projector certainly isn’t shy about coming forward.

But can such a nascent brand really hold its own with the best the projector establishment has to offer?

Price

Considering Valerion is positioned as a premium sub-brand of AWOL Vision, the VisionMaster Pro 2’s £2019 / $2999 / AU$4999 price really doesn’t seem unreasonable.

That’s especially true when you consider that this is a projector which, as we’ll see, is packed with convenience and performance-enhancing features, and sports one of the most eye-catching designs the projector world has to offer.

The sort of premium coffee table space the VisionMaster Pro 2 at least looks like it’s designed to fit into, though, is a crowded one these days, with other roughly cube-shaped models such as BenQ’s similarly priced X3100i and Hisense’s much more affordable C1 already setting a high design and performance bar.

Design

Aside from its now quite common cubic shape (usually adopted to accommodate a decent sound system and some extra cooling room to help keep fan noise down), the VisionMaster Pro 2 looks truly unique.

Its top and left/right edges are particularly eye-catching, adorned as they are in a distinctive, deeply ribbed finish where the outer end of each rib features gleaming silvery metal.

The ribbing combines with the fact that the VisionMaster Pro 2 is exceptionally heavy by projector standards to make it a tricky beast to pick up and move.

With the gleaming ribbed sides offset glamorously by beautifully smooth, polished, mirrored glass front and back panels, though, this really is a projector design to admire. Even if your tastes might normally lean towards something more conservative.

The metallic theme continues with the VisionMaster Pro 2’s remote control, which is wrapped very fetchingly across its bottom third, around its edges and over the navigation buttons by a beautifully premium-feeling brushed metal finish.

This is offset handsomely by a matte black backdrop for the remote’s buttons, which are both backlit and helpfully arranged for the most part.

Features

The VisionMaster Pro 2 packs a handy bag of tricks inside its compact but weighty form. At its heart lies a triple (RGB) laser lighting system feeding into a 4K-capable DLP optical set-up, capable of pumping out a claimed 3000 ISO lumens of light.

That’s a pretty promising brightness figure in our humble opinion, with experience suggesting it has the potential to handily straddle the tricky line between being bright enough to punch through a degree of ambient light, but also not so bright that there’s little to no chance of the projector being able to deliver any decent black levels and contrast.

In fact, Valerion claims a very respectable 15,000:1 contrast ratio for the Pro 2 with the projector running in its most contrast-friendly settings (more on these later).

Remarkably, the VisionMaster Pro 2 is claimed to be capable of covering 110 per cent of the AV world’s most extreme BT2020 colour gamut (well beyond the DCI-P3 range used for most real-world HDR content mastering), and impressively, it’s capable of playing both the Dolby Vision and HDR10+ premium HDR formats.

Projectors able to handle even one of these premium formats are still relatively rare, so the Pro 2’s ability to handle both – essentially meaning the projector can play the best version of any content it’s presented with – feels like a real luxury.

It’s equipped with a Filmmaker Mode setting for quick access to relatively accuracy-based pictures (though we feel its Movie preset actually delivers the most rewarding results in dark room settings).

Also, its IMAX Enhanced certification shows the Valerion been deemed capable of doing justice to the relatively noiseless and screen-filling IMAX Enhanced mastering system.

Finally, ISF certification proves that it has all the tools a professional calibrator needs to optimise the projector to your specific room conditions.

Gamers will be pleased to hear that the VisionMaster Pro 2 can support 240Hz frame rates, at which speed it can render images in just 4ms. HDMI ports one and two can also cope with 4K/120Hz signals with HDR, though the third HDMI tops out at 1080p/120Hz if you want to retain HDR.

Note, though, that as with some TVs, even the two full HDMI 2.1 ports only take in high frame rates with HDR and 4K resolution if you manually select the specific HDMI’s Enhanced Pro option via the projector’s Input menu options.

There’s support for ultra-wide gaming formats (32:9 and 21:9) if you’re playing a PC title that supports such ratios, and you can call up an overlaid crosshair in the centre of the screen to help your aim.

This latter feature is especially useful when you’re dealing with images as big as the 300 inches the VisionMaster Pro 2 claims to have enough edge-to-edge sharpness to successfully deliver. The only gaming disappointment is the lack of any VRR support.

Smart features are handled by a built-in Google TV system. This gives you access to most of the key streaming and UK broadcaster catch-up apps, including Netflix, Prime Video, YouTube, Disney+, Apple TV, Channel 4, My5 and ITVX. Though, as usual with Google TV, the BBC iPlayer is notably absent.

There is, though, support for AirPlay 2, Chromecast, Miracast, Google Home, Apple HomeKit and Alexa, with near- and far-field Google Assistant voice control also available.

While the VisionMaster Pro 2 might have designs on being a fairly serious home cinema projector, it can still adapt easily to a range of potential living room set-up situations thanks to auto image size, auto keystone correction and auto focus options, along with manual backup adjustments where required.

The auto size feature is backed up by an unusually generous 0.9x-1.5x level of optical zoom.

Picture

The first thing we should say here is that the way our time with the VisionMaster Pro 2 played out meant that we actually got to see it both before and after it received not one but two firmware updates that seriously improved picture performance in multiple ways.

So, before we get into how a fully updated Valerion VisionMaster Pro 2 performs, we recommend that you check if your Pro 2 is running the latest software.

If your model’s DLP firmware version (found in the About/Upgrade section of the Settings/System menu) says it’s in the 7x series, it needs to be upgraded to version 79 – a process that can only be done using a USB storage stick.

If your projector’s DLP firmware is in the 83 series, you don’t need the DLP firmware update.

Once you’re confident your DLP firmware is correct, check that your projector is running firmware version P1215, and if it isn’t, you should be able to get it via manually instigating an over-the-air update. Full details on both update processes can be found in the support area of Valerion’s website.

The DLP update is designed to reduce the projector’s susceptibility to DLP’s projection’s rainbow effect issue, where stripes of red, green and blue can flit around in your peripheral vision or over standout bright objects. And it’s fair to say its effects are pretty transformational.

So much so that the Pro 2’s rainbow effect goes from being consistently and obviously distracting enough to cost the image a full performance mark, to occurring so mildly and rarely that it seldom bothers us at all. It hasn’t completely gone, to be clear, but it really is way, way less of a nuisance.

The P1215 firmware, meanwhile, delivers two other extremely welcome performance enhancements, first by unlocking the ability to adjust the projector’s laser output for the Dolby Vision Dark mode, and second by enhancing the projector’s Dynamic Tone Mapping system for optimising HDR sources to the projector’s capabilities.

The Enhanced Black Level feature for automatically optimising the projector’s laser output to suit each scene you’re watching is pretty essential to getting the most all-round watchable images on the VisionMaster Pro 2.

Being able to apply it on its Low setting to the Dolby Vision Dark mode results in some of the best images we’ve seen on a projector even close to this price level. Black levels go from OK to excellent, without costing much brightness or colour vibrancy at all.

The ‘Low’ Enhanced Black Level setting has a helpful impact on regular HDR10 content, too, transforming images from good if slightly grey in dark scenes, to really cinematic, contrast-rich affairs that wouldn’t look out of place on a much more expensive dedicated home theatre projector.

Making the Enhanced Black Level feature’s impact all the better is that it improves black depth while causing precious little subtle shading detail to become lost in the darkness.

Though if you do feel that dark areas have started looking a touch hollow with the Enhanced Black Level feature engaged, a thoughtfully designed Shadow Detail Enhancement feature is able to do a great job of marginally raising the black level floor when subtle details are present without impacting the overall brightness level.

In a perfect world, more of the Pro 2’s picture presets might have been more effectively set up out of the box, rather than needing manual adjustment. It’s true, too, that achieving the most accurate images using the Filmmaker Mode requires the Enhanced Black Level feature to be turned off, resulting in a slightly flat-looking image.

It’s hard to complain too much about the odd preset foible, though, when Valerion has not only provided fairly straightforward and logical tools for enhancing its images in all the right ways, but has actually delivered those tools with a degree of sensitivity, subtlety and image understanding that’s rare indeed in the ‘lifestyle’ projection world.

Joining the Pro 2’s impressive brightness and contrast is a seriously impressive colour range. This extends comfortably out to the furthest reaches of even the most aggressive HDR masters in our 4K Blu-ray collection, but at the same time, the colour processing uses that range at least as much for delivering subtle shading differences as aggressively vibrant spectacle.

The result is an exceptionally punchy image, but one that doesn’t feel cartoonish or flat. Especially as Valerion’s latest firmware update for the projector seems to have introduced better control over how light combines with colour, causing less clipping of detail in the brightest areas and a better all-round balance of tones across HDR scenes.

The VisionMaster Pro 2 delivers 4K sources with a level of pixel density and sharpness that gets mighty close to native 4K in appearance, despite the projector not having a genuine 4K DLP Digital Mirror Device count.

It even manages to keep that sharpness more or less intact when there’s motion and camera panning to handle, thanks to an unusually effective ‘Film’ motion processing option. This massages away the heaviest judder effects without making the results look unnaturally fluid or generating unwanted and distracting processing side effects.

Even after receiving its latest firmware updates and plying it with a few judicious picture setting tweaks, the VisionMaster Pro 2’s images aren’t entirely niggle free.

We’ve already mentioned that faint traces of the rainbow effect remain. Also, though, bright shots can be affected by a slight glimmering effect of the sort we’d normally associate (at a much stronger level) with watching a bright projector on a high-gain screen.

And, while using the ‘Low’ Enhanced Black Level mode is for us borderline essential to getting the best picture quality from the VisionMaster Pro 2, it can occasionally cause slight brightness instability – and the High Enhanced Black Level option pushes this issue to really quite unpleasant levels. The ‘Clear’ motion processing option applied by default to many of the Pro 2’s presets also causes all sorts of distracting issues.

Finally, while gaming on the VisionMaster Pro 2 is enjoyable and responsive enough at 120Hz frame rates, it feels a little laggy with 60Hz titles. Input lag measures 34.3ms with 1080p/60Hz feeds, which isn’t actually bad. But the real-world 60Hz gaming experience just doesn’t quite feel as responsive and fluid as we’d like.

With any projector, though, especially any projector that wants to have a serious stab at HDR content, there are always going to be picture performance trade-offs.

And the simple fact is that the trade-offs that an updated and mildly tweaked VisionMaster Pro 2 requires you to swallow feel like pretty small beer against all the good stuff Valerion’s projector can do.

Sound

The VisionMaster Pro 2’s integrated 2 x 12W speakers sound much better than most integrated projector speaker systems.

For starters, they have enough power and projection behind them to create at least a sense of a dome of sound existing beyond the projector’s physical bodywork.

Most location effects in a sophisticated movie mix appear fairly accurately placed within this sound dome, too, and the simple fact that the audio can escape the projector’s bodywork helps it sound a bit more attached to the projector’s distant pictures than usual.

Perhaps even more impressive is the depth of bass the Pro 2’s speakers can reach without succumbing to crackling, buzzing or dropouts.

This gives soundtracks a properly cinematic feel you barely ever get with integrated projector sound systems – especially as this impressive low frequency foundation is maintained even during loud, dense action scene moments without the rest of the mix sounding overwhelmed or thin.

There’s even a genuine sense of impact with movie staples such as punches or gunfire.

In a perfect world, the highest treble would sound a little more rounded and smooth, and voices would sound a bit more open and project better from the Valerion’s bodywork.

But the fact that we’re even able to pick out such specific audio issues rather than just being overwhelmed by the general mediocrity most projector audio systems serve up actually proves how much better the VisionMaster Pro 2 sounds than most of its peers.

Verdict

Valerion is, on paper, still a novice brand, and the Kickstarter-plus-major-firmware-updates journey of its VisionMaster Pro 2 projector is unusual to say the least.

It turns out, though, that neither of these apparent challenges has managed to stop the Pro 2 from both becoming a (literally) shining star of the mid-range lifestyle projector scene, and putting Valerion firmly on the home entertainment map.

SCORES

• Picture 5
• Sound 4
• Features 4

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Read our Epson EF-72 review

Our pick of the best projectors you can buy for every budget

Panasonic has announced that it’s entered a partnership with Chinese AV brand Shenzen Skyworth, under its parent company Chuángwéi RGB, to secure the future of its OLED, Mini LED and QLED TVs in Europe.

After years of speculation, and confirmation from Panasonic itself that it was looking to restructure and potentially offload its struggling TV business, a deal has finally been struck to ensure that the brand will continue to sell TVs in the UK and European markets.

Announced at Panasonic Experience 2026 in Munich, Chuángwéi RGB’s CEO Peter Zhang confirmed the partnership, and assured members of the press that the company will work alongside Panasonic to continue delivering products that “stay true to Panasonic TVs”.

The deal hands the production, research and development, and sales duties to Skyworth, while Panasonic will provide input in development, using its years of experience in the AV industry to ensure Skyworth continues to produce high-quality sets under the company’s name.

Panasonic will also handle technical support of TVs purchased before March 2026, with this deal set to officially begin on 1st April 2026.

The goal of this strategic partnership (the same term used by Sony and TCL when they announced their respective deal) is to scale up Panasonic’s presence in Europe.

Skyworth promises to leverage its manufacturing, development, resources and scale to expand Panasonic’s presence within this crucial market.

Panasonic has been losing market share to the likes of Samsung, TCL and Hisense in recent years, and the brand wants to regain some of that to solidify its position as a “top five global television brand”.

We also speculate that this deal will greatly reduce the cost of Panasonic TV production.

While we’re happy to see Panasonic soldier on, especially after it produced two five-star TVs last year, in the form of the Z90B and Z95B (both of which roll over into 2026 and will stay in Panasonic’s TV lineup), we can’t help but feel the same pang of scepticism we felt upon Sony announcing that it will sell a majority stake of its home entertainment business to TCL.

That being said, the sentiment that “Panasonic TVs will stay Panasonic TVs” was echoed constantly throughout the company’s press conference on Monday, so we hope that both companies stick to their word here.

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The Sony and TCL TV merger could be a good thing – as long as each brand stays in its lane

Here's our story on Panasonic's new 2026 TV range

Here are the best TVs you can buy right now

Sometimes an Adventure in AV can involve a short trip into our TV's settings menu to discover something new. Other times it involves physically trekking halfway around the world.

In my case, it's the latter, as I kicked off my year in Las Vegas, Nevada, scouting out the latest innovations in the world of home cinema at CES 2026.

As expected, the show was nothing short of overwhelming, with countless new releases and announcements that will shape the AV landscape for the year to come.

While the RGB Mini LED TVs and new OLED sets stole the show, two specific demonstrations stood out, as they will remain relevant well beyond the end of 2026.

The first showed Dolby Vision 2, and although it didn't launch at CES specifically, I now have a much clearer picture of what it is actually capable of.

It was initially revealed at IFA 2025; but it was shrouded in mystery and confusion, and every TV manufacturer I quizzed on the subject seemed almost as confused as I was.

The second demo was for HDR10+ Advanced, which I had a sneak peek at during a trip to Samsung's headquarters in Suwon, South Korea, back in October of 2025.

The Samsung team offered somewhat of a more complete answer, though they showed me simulated footage rather than actual working HDR10+ Advanced, so I had to take their word for the claimed performance upgrade.

The good news is that both Dolby and Samsung had major presences at CES 2026, and each showed their new respective dynamic HDR formats working in action. So I now have a much clearer picture of what the future of HDR will look like.

I'll start with Dolby, which showed me three examples of Dolby Vision 2 running on a beta-software build on a high-end, mid-range, and entry-level TV.

They all appeared to be bright and punchy Mini LED TVs, and while Dolby wouldn't specify the brand, the primary launch partner for Dolby Vision 2 is Hisense; I'll let you connect the dots there.

Dolby's demonstration truly wowed me. It showed an intense boost to brightness that transforms dark content to dig out detail that I presumed was simply lost to shadows indefinitely. It had regular Dolby Vision TVs set up alongside the Dolby Vision 2 versions in some instances, and the differences were practically night and day.

Digging up more detail in the dark areas did not come at the cost of lifted black levels, however, as it still looked natural to my eyes, and (most importantly) Dolby assured me that the system can recognise what is intentionally meant to be shadow details and not over-brighten those sections.

Dolby stressed how closely it works with directors and editors to ensure that their work is presented in a true-to-life manner.

There is a more advanced set of metadata underpinning Dolby Vision 2, which comes straight from the creatives themselves. And it results in enhanced brightness (and more) without the loss of detail and authenticity.

The need for this brightness-boosting version of Dolby Vision is rooted in the launch of super-bright Mini LED and RGB Mini LED TVs, which can far surpass the capabilities of the current version of Dolby Vision; this makes the super-bright TVs that we've seen crop up over the past couple of years even more compelling, as there is now a feature that can properly take advantage of their specifications.

Not to be outdone, Samsung showed a live demo running its new HDR10+ Advanced format on beta software, running on the new R95H RGB Mini LED TV.

Once again, the results were impressive, especially as Samsung had a “normal” HDR10+ TV running alongside the demo of the new format. Colours seemed more vibrant while remaining natural and balanced, and there was unquestionably more depth and contrast to the image.

There also seemed to be more in the way of detail levels, although (much like Dolby Vision 2), this was most noticeable in dark sequences.

Samsung also assured us that creator-derived metadata would underpin the changes coming to HDR10+ Advanced, which means that authenticity was also at the top of its priority list.

Furthermore, both companies dug deeper into Dolby Vision 2 and HDR10+'s ability to handle motion. Traditionally, HDR formats haven't really played much of a part in motion processing; however, both Dolby and Samsung make a good point on this.

The (frankly tragic) reality is that most people out there will never open their TVs' settings menu. Some because they don't know how the settings work, others because they fear permanently messing up their TV by adjusting the wrong settings.

I sympathise. A TV settings menu can be daunting to the less technically inclined; and Dolby and Samsung's answer is simply to handle the motion processing themselves.

It's a bold move, and we'll need to test it more to confirm our feelings, but both formats showed promising signs during the demonstrations I attended.

Dolby in particular stood out with its Authentic Motion system, which can dynamically shift motion processing based on the content.

Therefore, minimal motion-processing can be applied during slower scenes, such as conversations, whereas fast-paced action scenes or panning shots can be aided by a pinch more.

It never looked unnatural or oversmoothed to my eyes, and it could solve the conundrum of judder being visible when using a TV's most accurate and authentic picture mode (in which motion processing is often switched off).

I will certainly need to do a lot more testing with both of these HDR formats to come to a conclusive opinion, but the good news is that both looked to be working as intended during CES.

This left me with a sense of hope for the future of HDR; it could be a bright and smooth year for the picture technology.

Samsung has already confirmed that HDR10+ Advanced will be coming to its mid-range and premium models sometime this year, and Amazon Prime Video will be the first service to offer select titles with the standard included soon.

Hisense, TCL and Philips TVs will launch with Dolby Vision 2 this year, and Dolby Vision 2 Max should also be supported on the higher-tier models within each of these manufacturers' lineups.

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Read our Hisense 116UXS hands on review

As well as our Samsung S95H hands on review

And our LG C6 hands on review

As we rolled into Vegas the day before CES 2026 was about to kick off, we thought we had a pretty good handle on what LG would be launching there. We were wrong.

LG, it turned out, was keeping a little surprise up its sleeve in the comely shape of a relaunch of its beloved ‘Wallpaper’ series of ultra-thin OLED TVs.

LG’s first Wallpaper TV rodeo happened way back in 2017, wowing all who saw it with a paper-slim design so thin that you could actually flex its corners as you attached it to its magnetic wall mount. The resulting screen actually felt more like a window than a TV.

We should say right away that the new W6 Wallpaper TV is not nearly as slim as that. But it is considerably thinner than any C-, G- or even M-series model LG has launched, so you can see why LG wanted to mark it out with the resurrection of the Wallpaper name.

Has its performance been in any way compromised by its design, though? And is it really different enough to LG’s new G6 to warrant its existence?

We will have to wait until we have the W6 in our dedicated test rooms for a full review before we deliver our final verdict, but we went hands-on with the TV at CES to deliver some early impressions.

Price

LG hasn’t yet confirmed pricing for either of the 77- or 83-inch screen sizes the W6 is going to be available in.

However, LG spokespeople were at pains during our demo session to say that the W6 won't be nearly as expensive relative to the step-down G6 as the original Wallpaper generations were.

Expect ‘just above usual flagship OLED’ pricing, then, rather than ‘Premier League footballer’ levels of expense.

Design

For us, the W6 design is both gorgeous and a little bit controversial.

On the controversial side, the Wallpaper TV represent the chunkiest wallpaper we’ve ever seen. Seriously, you’d need quite a few layers of even wood-chip paper to get to the 9mm of depth the W6’s pack out back. This means it doesn’t pack the same ‘how is that even possible?’ wow factor that the old Wallpaper OLEDs did.

Happily, the W6 is still a seriously attractive bit of engineering art. In fact, you could even argue that it’s more gorgeous than it could have been if LG had gone for the same insane thinness of its predecessors.

Its 9mm depth makes it around half as deep as LG’s already beautifully slim G6, and that extreme slimness is emphasised both by the ingenious flush (and we do mean flush) wall mount brackets the set ships with, and the substantial screen sizes that sit at the front of such slender frames.

There’s just enough depth to the screen’s side panels to allow LG’s designers to squeeze a corrugated effect into the seriously attractive, almost stone-like side panels, too.

And LG cunningly leaned into this effect on its CES 2026 showcase booth by recessing a W6 into a wall of attractively large stone tiles. It even went to the trouble in this tiled wall presentation of filling the W6 screen with a photograph of what the tiles that would have gone where the screen was would have looked like. Basically, the screen was almost invisible.

Putting an image on the screen showing a photo of the replaced tiles reminded us that the new Wallpaper TV benefits from LG’s Gallery+ feature.

This provides a store of more than 5000 regularly updated digital artworks that users can use as screensavers. The Gallery system also lets users upload their own photos to the screen, and even provides a generative AI image generation system to help you create your own AI artworks.

This idea of turning a TV into a painting works particularly well when that TV is as slim as a typical mounted painting, as the W6 is.

The W6 couldn’t be so slim if it had to contain all the connections you would normally expect to find on a TV. So it’s not surprising to find it shipping with a version of the Zero Connect boxes we’ve seen shipping with LG’s M series OLED TVs over the past couple of years.

This box carries four HDMIs, among other things, and is capable of transmitting Dolby Atmos sound and 4K/165Hz video losslessly to the screen without any physical connection – and, it’s claimed, with hardly any extra latency.

The Zero Connect box for the W6 is far smaller than the ones seen with previous M series OLEDs, and is even kitted out in an attractive textured outer skin to give it more lifestyle appeal. Though you can, if you wish, hide the Zero Connect away in a cabinet, provided the walls of that container aren’t too thick. The transmission range of an unobstructed Zero Connect box is claimed to be around 10m.

One last point worth adding to this extended design section (well, it is a designer TV) is the mounting bracket mentioned earlier.

This genius affair features a pair of incredibly thin brackets that you fit on the wall with the help of an included template, and an ultra-clever ‘slide on’ mechanism that sees the TV connect firmly to your wall just by slotting it onto the brackets, with gravity providing all the connection force you need. If ever premium big-screen TVs were designed to make even the most useless DIYer feel like a custom install king, it’s the LG W6.

Features

We can be a bit briefer here than we were with the design section, thankfully. Not because the W6 doesn’t have a lot going on (it actually does), but more because we’ve already covered many of its features in our LG G6 hands-on.

The W6 is basically a G6 but thinner, so its design is actually its most important feature. We’ll cover the key points briefly again here, though, for anyone who hasn’t yet checked out our LG G6 page.

First, the panel at the W6’s heart is the new so-called Hyper Radiant premium type found in the G6. A panel capable of delivering yet another significant brightness increase – as much as 20 per cent is being claimed – over the ground-breaking brightness achieved by the Primary RGB Tandem OLED panels in last year’s G5.

This brightness is achieved, LG is keen to stress, without leading to washed-out colours. On the contrary, LG claims that the brightness helps the G6 and W6 screens unlock more of the colour spectrum than any previous LG OLED TV – while retaining, of course, the immaculate blacks and pixel-level light controls that OLED is famous for.

The W6 also features a new ‘reflection-free’ filter that greatly reduces the appearance and intensity of reflections on the screen while retaining the glossy screen finish that some AV fans prefer to the matte look you get with the zero-reflection screens of many premium Samsung TVs these days.

The W6’s new picture features are controlled by LG’s new spectacularly over-named Alpha 11 AI Processor 4K Gen 3 chip, with its ‘dual AI engine’ processing power, ever-expanding abilities to identify and react to different content types, and new elements focused on improved 4K upscaling and a genuine attempt to convert SDR content to HDR.

The expanded AI brainpower in the W6 also leads to a growing range of AI-related features within LG’s WebOS smart platform – or perhaps it might be better to say, from our experience of it at the CES 2026, that the latest AI developments are focused on simplifying the way we interact with the extensive array of AI and smart features the TV carries.

The AI processor plays a key role in the W6’s audio systems too, as we’ll cover in the sound section. And, finally, its use of a wireless connections box doesn’t prevent it being able to support such key gaming features as support for 4K resolutions (with VRR) at frame rates up to 165Hz.

Picture quality

From what we’ve seen of the W6 in action so far, it really does look set to be a seriously special TV. Worries that its ultra-thin design might lead to picture compromises versus the G6 just don’t seem to hold water at all.

Black levels look just as deep, rich and neutral, for starters, with no obvious signs under the CES show lights of any green or magenta tinting, even if viewed from the side.

The upgraded brightness peaks LG claims the Hyper Radiant panel can hit really do lead to a level of intensity – in terms of general full-screen brightness and, especially, peak HDR light highlights – that’s clearly visible to the naked eye.

There’s nothing forced about the extra brightness either. Direct side-by-side comparisons between a G5 and G6/W6 screens with the same content reveal that, as well as looking clearly brighter, HDR highlights actually appear with more subtle detail/less clipping on the new brighter screen.

In fact, the general sense of sharpness and detail across the image was clearly significantly higher on the G6/W6, an effect LG spokespeople attributed to the new models being able to render finer but also more extreme contrast than the preceding G5, allowing each pixel in an image to effectively enjoy extra definition.

Since this extra definition is being achieved by improved light control rather than anything as basic as simple sharpness enhancement (at least when it comes to native 4K playback), it feels entirely natural and immersive rather than forced, gritty or over-processed.

While we weren’t able to feed the W6 any of our own favourite test content during our time with it, we’d tentatively say that LG has potentially solved the slight colour striping issue that could appear over subtle colour blends with the G5 series. Colours generally enjoy beautifully rich, vibrant saturations that definitively prove that the Hyper Radiant panel isn’t just ramping up white to achieve its extra luminance at the expense of the key red, green and blue elements that make ‘true’ TV colour.

Colour volumes have increased in line with the raised brightness, in other words, rather than the brightness increases leaving colour saturations behind.

We didn’t detect any obvious increase in noise in dark areas either, despite the panel’s more extreme contrast capabilities, and interestingly, motion handling appeared slightly more natural on the W6 than it was on the already impressive G5. Though this area, perhaps more than any other, is one where we’ll need to spend much more time with a W6 in proper test conditions before we can be certain this improvement is as consistent as it appeared at first glance.

Aside from not being able to sustain the sort of full-screen brightness levels that the new generation of premium LCD TVs can, we’re struggling to find anything negative to say about the W6’s pictures from what we’ve seen so far. Fingers crossed this carries through to the finished product.

Sound quality

While squeezing the same picture technology the G6 uses into the W6’s svelte designs seems to have been relatively straightforward, getting speakers into the chassis was apparently – and unsurprisingly – far from easy. Especially as LG doesn’t do as Sony does with its OLED TVs and use the TVs’ screens themselves as speakers.

Instead, long ‘chimney’ speakers running vertically down the W6’s rear into ports that emerge from the screens’ bottom edge are provided to try and deliver a decent amount of mid and low frequency sound, and are especially important given that there’s no space on the W6’s back panel for any rear-mounted woofers.

LG remains confident enough about the W6 audio system, though, to still equip the sets with the brand’s AI Sound system, which can up-mix even a basic stereo source to a virtual 11.1.2-channel sound stage.

Thanks to the extremely non-sterile sound environment the W6 was presented in, we don’t feel able to comment usefully on how successful LG might have been in getting a big sound out of its new Wallpaper models.

While the limitations inevitably placed on a super-slim TV’s speaker system are extreme, though, the efforts LG seems to have poured into making the W6 sound more than the equivalent of a couple of tin cans and a length of string appear promising.

Early verdict

While the W6 isn’t as mind-bendingly skinny as LG’s original Wallpaper OLED TVs, its wireless connectivity and integrated speakers mean it comes without the massive external soundbar/connections box those first Wallpaper TVs shipped with.

It’s also looking likely to be much more affordable than those original Wallpaper TVs, too.

The design is also still supremely elegant and beautifully constructed, while the wireless connectivity appears to work flawlessly in terms of causing no apparent loss of picture or sound quality.

We can’t say for sure yet how successful or otherwise LG has been at fitting a workable sound system into a TV as slim as the new Wallpaper TVs, but impressions of its pictures so far, at least, are remarkably good for a TV with such a design-led background.

MORE:

Check out our LG G6 hands-on

Here's the full 2026 LG TV lineup (so far)

Here are all of the best TVs you can buy right now

In all my years of testing TVs (18 and counting), there's one model that has dazzled me more than any other – LG's original W7 'Wallpaper' OLED.

That was a TV so thin (just 2.57mm) that it flexed like an antipodean entertainer's wobble board and could be hung on a wall by magnets.

It was absolutely stunning. In fact, even though the Wallpaper series was retired by LG after 2020's WX edition, I maintain there has not been a more stunning TV since.

I've been pining for the return of the range for the last five years, and it looked like it was going to happen last year, when a mysterious LG W5 TV won a CES Innovation Award. But, bafflingly, the TV was never actually announced.

This year, though, the Wallpaper series is back for real, with LG having just officially announced the W6.

Let's tackle the obvious issue right away: unlike LG's original Wallpaper models, the W6 is not [in your best John Cleese maître de voice] waffer-thin.

Yes, I do think that's a shame, as it's undeniably what made the originals so spectacular, but the W6 is still just 9mm thick, and the additional thickness is there in the service of picture quality.

You see, the W6 features the same second-generation Four Stack Primary RGB Tandem OLED panel tech as the new G6, as well as the same new Alpha 11 Gen 3 processor.

In other words, this is no stripped-down performer designed to appeal to well-heeled aesthetes over committed cinephiles – it's a true, 2026 flagship OLED.

And for the W6, LG has solved my one big complaint with the original Wallpaper models.

Those sets were all wired to a really large soundbar that also contained all of the picture-processing gubbins.

It was quite stylish, for what it was, but what if you wanted to combine the gorgeous TV with a better sound system? You'd still have to look at the big, useless soundbar element.

This time, there's no mandatory soundbar. Instead, the W6 comes with the new version of LG's wireless Zero Connect box.

This new version is even more compact than last year's, to the extent that it can apparently be hidden in a drawer. Even when nestled out of sight, the Zero Connect box can wirelessly transmit picture signals up to 4K/165Hz in quality, along with Dolby Atmos sound, to the wall-mounted display.

It's worth noting that the display portion of the W6 does, of course, require its own power, so you will have one cable to deal with, but that should be much more manageable than the usual cable spaghetti we have to deal with when connecting sources directly to a TV.

I already mentioned that the W6 has the same OLED panel and processor as the new flagship G6, but it also has the same 'Reflection Free Premium' certification. This means that the TV is apparently able to reproduce deeper blacks and more vibrant colours than other TVs in bright ambient light.

Combined with the apparent 20 per cent peak brightness increase over last year's already super-bright G5, this should make the W6 a really strong option for bright living rooms.

But is the W6 only for the sort of people who live in penthouse apartments like the one in the press image at the top of the page?

Apparently not: while the 77-inch version of the original W7 Wallpaper TV launched for £24,999, my understanding is that the new W6 will command only a slight premium over the G6.

My guess is that we'll be looking at about £4999 for the 77-inch model. That's not cheap, by any means, but it's less ridiculous than I was expecting.

Speaking of sizes, the new M6 will only be available as a 77- and 83-inch model, so you will certainly need a large room to accommodate it. If you need a smaller set, the 55- and 65-inch versions of the new G6 should offer the same performance without the super-slim, wireless design.

We should be getting some hands-on time with the M6 during CES, so stay tuned for our first impressions.

MORE:

Stay tuned to our CES live hub for all of the news as we get it

Check out our stories on the LG C6 and G6, plus the brand's first RGB Mini LED model (the MRGB95), its new Gallery TV, and the Sound Suite Dolby Atmos system

Here are all of the best TVs you can buy right now

If, like us, you’re currently swirling a glass of red wine, mulling over what to wear before making your way to a New Year’s Eve party to toast 2026 into existence, you may also be finding yourself accidentally indulging in a bit of nostalgia for the year just passed.

2025 was an interesting year for a variety of reasons, especially if you’re a hi-fi or home cinema enthusiast. Whether it was the arrival of new cutting-edge OLED panel technologies in January or the most turbulent What Hi-Fi? Awards in recent memory a lot has happened over the past 12 months.

To help you remember the most important developments that are likely have an ongoing impact in 2026, our team has written this special entry to our regular Rewind column, detailing the top hi-fi and home cinema highlights of 2025.

A great year for OLED’s “rival”

By Alastair Stevenson

Mini LED has always been a key home cinema tech that has hinted at, but never quite achieved, greatness the same way OLED has.

This is especially true in the premium end of the market, where the panel technology’s inability to deliver perfect blacks, with its lack of pixel-level light control, the way OLEDs do, is a particularly hard pill to swallow.

That problem hasn’t been fixed in 2025. But, I am pleased to report the tech has made firm strides, cementing its place as the top option in the mid and affordable end of the TV market, thanks in small part to a strong showing by TCL.

Despite having a middling 2024, with a sea of four-star sets passing through our viewing rooms, the manufacturer dusted itself off for 2025 and launched two of the best Mini LED TVs we’ve tested: the Award-winning TCL C6KS and TCL C7K.

The C7K is the mid-range TV we recommend to most buyers, with its stellar value price and significantly improved light control making it the best bang for your buck in its class.

Its consistency is what particularly sets it apart and shows Mini LED sets are moving in the right direction. In 2024, a lack of finesse and consistency was a key reason that year’s mid-range Mini LEDs earned four-star ratings.

Meanwhile, the TCL 6KS is impressive simply for having a Mini LED panel, period. Getting a Mini LED TV panel on a 50-inch TV for less than five hundred quid is an achievement; making it look as good as the 6KS does is an industry first for our reviewers.

Looking ahead, both sets are a clear sign that there’s plenty of room left for Mini LED to help improve things for cash-strapped home cinema fans.

Here's hoping the trend continues in 2026!

Top turntable designers share their favourite vinyl records

By Kashfia Kabir

One of the best weeks of the year is when we do Vinyl Week: seven days dedicated to all things vinyl and turntable in the lead up to the annual Record Store Day event.

While I got to listen to turntables as wildly different as the high-end, exquisite Vertere SG-1/Xtrax and the quirky, portable Audio-Technica Sound Burger (both fun), this year, the highlight was when eight of the world's top turntable designers shared their most beloved vinyl records and why they mean so much to them.

It was fantastic hearing directly from the minds behind Pro-Ject, Technics, VPI, Michell and more about their choices and the personal stories behind them, hearing their love for specific music, and what drives them to continue their passion for making turntables. I particularly loved that some even sent in a picture of their own copy of the chosen vinyl record, too.

You can read all the entries here: We asked eight of the world's top turntable designers for their favourite records – here's what they said

Want mid-priced standmounts? 2025 left you spoiled for choice

By Harry McKerrell

What a year it’s been for mid-priced standmount speakers. 2025 saw a slew of models ranging from around £500 to just under £1000, all of which brought something new and unique to the table at their given price point. If you vowed in January that you would upgrade your setup with a new pair of standmount stunners – and you weren’t willing to pay over a grand to get them – 2025 left you spoiled for choice.

The Acoustic Energy AE300 Mk2 led the charge, ending the year as our Product of the Year Award-winners, thanks to their nuanced, delicate approach. But what has been so pleasing about the past 12 months or so is that genuine alternatives abound. If you want speakers that sound richer and fuller, while maintaining exceptional all-round credentials at a cheaper price, the KEF Q3 Meta are an outstanding five-star pick.

The sparklingly talented Bowers & Wilkins 606 S3 are still knocking around at this level, while the newer Monitor Audio Bronze 50 7G act as a five-star wildcard pick, with their peppy, front-footed personality offering an enticing change of pace from their more mature, even-handed rivals.

What’s been so gratifying this year is how each brand has gone in a different sonic direction, demonstrating there’s more than one way to skin the proverbial standmounted cat. If you’re seeking new speakers this Christmas, you really are spoiled for choice.

Super-fierce flagship OLED competition

By Tom Parsons

The degree to which every manufacturer upped its flagship OLED game this year really took me by surprise.

We had a brand new panel technology, Primary RGB Tandem OLED (catchy name there, guys), to get excited about, and a heavily upgraded version of QD-OLED panel tech to do battle with it. But it’s what the brands did with these awesome raw materials that really impressed me.

There has been a real focus on delivering cinematic authenticity in recent years, with manufacturers realising that people really care about seeing movies at home in the way the director intended. And, largely speaking, they have used the super-bright, ultra-vibrant new panel technologies in the pursuit of delivering that authenticity in a living room environment.

This synchronicity in approach from the manufacturers and broad performance parity in the two competing panel technologies means that competition has been closer than ever this year, with the flagship OLED sets from LG, Samsung, Sony, Panasonic and Philips all receiving five-star ratings.

There’s still a hierarchy, with the Sony Bravia 8 II in first, the Samsung S95F and Philips OLED910 sharing second, the Panasonic Z95B in third and the LG G5 in fourth, but the point is that you simply can’t buy a bad super-premium OLED TV right now.

That’s great news for consumers, not least because it means you can focus on your personal priorities (the design or gaming specification, for example), knowing that the picture quality will be awesome no matter which TV you choose.

Gazing into my crystal ball, I’m pretty sure that 2025 will go down in history as a vintage year for OLED TVs.

Harman acquires Bowers & Wilkins, Denon and Marantz

By Andy Madden

I’m not going to lie. It was a huge shock when I returned from holiday in September to be greeted by the news that Harman had finalised its deal to buy Masimo's Sound United stable of brands, which includes the likes of Bowers & Wilkins, Denon, and Marantz.

It was arguably the biggest news to drop in hi-fi and home cinema land in recent years.

After a turbulent few years, though, it gave me great joy and indeed hope to see the Sound United brands come under the ownership of a parent company with a huge pedigree and experience of owning and operating multiple brands in the audio space.

Arcam seems to have blossomed under Harman since its acquisition in 2017 – you only need to look at the recent success of its Radia range to see that – so I’m really excited to see what this new beginning holds in store for the Sound United brands.

I doubt we’ll see the proper fruits of the acquisition for a little while yet, but I honestly couldn’t really think of a better outcome. Our industry can’t afford to lose the likes of Bowers & Wilkins, Denon and Marantz, and hopefully, under new ownership, they’ll be able to go from strength to strength for years to come.

A new premium soundbar champion

By Robyn Quick

We have been spoiled this year in the world of soundbars, with numerous models leaping onto the leader board and blowing rivals out of the water in our test room.

No model, though, made a splash quite as big as the KEF XIO, the brand’s first soundbar. Costing £1999 / $1999 / AU$3600, the ’bar is certainly targeting the premium end of the market.

From the start, it was up against tough competition with the Award-winning Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar Max, which, although it launched at £2199 / $2500 / AU$4000 in 2019, can now be found for the same price as the XIO.

But the KEF model delivered detailed, precise and immersive sound that managed to outperform the Sennheiser model and steal its crown at the What Hi-Fi? Awards. We say in our review: “KEF says that it wants the soundbar to effectively act as a hi-fi package wrapped up in one product, and it has achieved that. Put simply, it is one of the best soundbars we have heard.” If that’s not high praise, I’m not sure what is.

It also impressed with the inclusion of class-leading technology under the hood, which earned it the What Hi-Fi? Innovation Award. Enter the Velocity Control Technology (VECO), which is built into the soundbar’s bass drivers.

A flexible PCB printed with a sensing coil takes the place of a traditional former (the component that the main coil wraps around) and measures the speed of movement. This allows the soundbar’s ‘brain’ to compensate for any errors detected.

The KEF XIO was certainly one of the best things to come out this year when it comes to home cinema, but I’m curious to see whether a new rival will emerge in 2026 to challenge its audio prowess.

Black Friday... with a personal twist

By James Cook

Seeing as Black Friday is such a hectic time for us here at What Hi-Fi?, I’m sure my colleagues will be a bit mystified that this has been a highlight for me.

But as I only joined the team right as we came into this busy period of discounts on hi-fi and AV gear that we’d recommend, the baptism by fire that ensued enabled me to get acquainted with a variety of products and some of the tech lingo used to describe them.

As the busy trading period continued, an opportunity also arose to cover a piece of gear that I own myself: the Wharfedale Diamond 220. I love bargains and this pair of 2014 Award-winning standmount speakers takes pride of place in my home hi-fi setup. So, when they became available at a discount, I was delighted to be able to genuinely recommend a product that I love at an even better price.

I’m somewhat surprised that such an old product was on discount this year, so I’m hopeful that next Black Friday I’ll have the chance to recommend other parts of my more wallet-friendly setup, too.

Spotify Lossless FINALLY gets released

By Daniel Furn

If you’re a long-term What Hi-Fi? reader, you will probably be aware of our agonising eight-year wait for hi-res Spotify. However, after rumours dating back as far as March 2017, 2025 inexplicably became the year that Spotify Lossless was finally released upon the world.

So was it worth the wait? Well, the 24-bit/44.1kHz audio quality is still a fair bit behind the 24-bit/192kHz of rivals such as Tidal and Qobuz, and Lossless is locked behind the ever-increasing Premium price tier.

But for long-term Spotify listeners locked into a family plan like me, an increase on the previous limit of 320kbps streams is a bit of a godsend. My 10+ years of playlists and a carefully curated taste profile are now available in hi-res, and I can finally justify investing in a good DAC and a pair of our best wired headphones.

Spotify Lossless might not have been a perfect upgrade, but it’s sure to make a big difference to the service’s reported 281 million Premium subscribers. I still get a little buzz every time I see the green “Lossless” indicator in the Now Playing view, and it’s the perfect excuse to listen to my library all over again.

The end of the year is in sight, which means it's time to pause and reflect. Who's had a good year, and whose 12 months have been... not so good?

We've compiled a list of winners and losers for 2025. Some firms have launched stellar products, kept at the top of their game, or come up with breakthrough technologies that genuinely elevate the viewing or listening experience. And some have dropped a clanger or two.

Some of them aren't even brands. If you bought a new OLED TV recently, we might have some bad news for you...

Do you agree with our list? Let us know your winners and losers of the year in the comments or on our forum.

Winners of 2025

TCL

While TCL has previously shown some flashes of brilliance, no one (myself included) expected what we got from the brand in 2025. It’s really no exaggeration to say that it has redefined expectations in the mid-range and budget areas of the TV market.

The eye-opening specs and surprisingly low prices that have long been TCL’s bread and butter now go hand in hand with more considered and more cinematically accurate tuning, plus new ‘Halo Control Technology’ that allows the TVs to go brighter while retaining deeper contrasting blacks.

Of the six 2025 TCL TVs we’ve tested, four have received five-star ratings, and three of those – the 50C6KS, 65C7K and 85C7K – have gone on to win What Hi-Fi? Awards. I know for a fact that all of this has made several other TV brands rather worried. And, frankly, I think they should be.

Words by Tom Parsons

JBL

Yes, JBL does make other devices, like soundbars, turntables and headphones. And some of them are very good, like the five-star JBL Bar 300MK2 and four-star JBL Tour One M3 Smart Tx. But the brand doesn't dominate any product category like it does Bluetooth speakers.

It picked up three of our five Awards in the wireless speaker category this year, and won every 'portable' speaker Award going. This isn't a one-off – last year it won both portable speaker Awards. That it's continued this superb run of form is deeply impressive.

The Flip continues to be the best budget Bluetooth speaker around, with the Flip 7 adding real improvements to the sound quality, build and feature set. The Charge 6 is ideal for anyone with a bit more to spend, proving "infectiously energetic" in our review, while the Xtreme 4 should be your go-to if you have a somewhat looser definition of 'portable'.

Just a few years ago, it was a much more crowded market, with KEF, Ultimate Ears and Dali all picking up Awards for their portable efforts. JBL's continued dominance shows it has had a very good year indeed.

Words by Joe Svetlik

KEF

Entering a new product category can't be easy. Just ask Sonos. Its debut in the fiercely competitive wireless headphones space last year was not only poorly received – earning a disappointing three stars from us – it also necessitated a disastrous app redesign for which the company is still paying the price.

KEF, on the other hand, had considerably more success with the XIO, its first ever soundbar.

Not only did this monster model win our 'Best soundbar over £1000' Award, it also picked up 'Innovation of the Year' for its Velocity Control Technology. This sees a flexible PCB printed with a sensing coil in place of a traditional former (the component that the main coil wraps around) to measure the speed of movement. This allows the soundbar’s 'brain' to compensate for any errors detected, and correct the sound.

It certainly works. In our review, we described the soundstage as "impressively wide and immersive," with more clarity and precision than the Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar Max and more finesse in the low-level dynamics.

For a first effort, it's a doozy. Well done KEF.

Words by Joe Svetlik

Sony

Getting to the top is easy, it's the staying there that's the hard part. This saying might be beloved of sports people, but it could easily apply to the world of consumer AV. Sony has excelled in recent years in both its wireless headphones and TVs, and this year saw it continue its winning streak.

True, it might not utterly dominate the wireless headphones space like it did a couple of years ago, when it performed a clean sweep of the category in our Awards. But it's still there, and in some ways that's even more impressive.

The WH-1000XM6 are another proud entry in the stellar flagship XM family, and – true to form – they're another fantastic pair of all-rounders. That's why they won Product of the Year. The WF-C510 and C710N are still respectively the best budget and mid-range wireless earbuds you can buy, while the CH720N are again the best over-ear experience you can have on a budget.

The same goes for its TVs. The Bravia 8 II is the premium TV right now, following on from the also excellent A95L. And while LG might have dominated the lower price categories in our Awards, the Bravia 7 still earned five stars.

With these ranges, Sony is still at the top of its game, years after they first debuted. And as any sports person will tell you, that's the mark of a true champion.

Words by Joe Svetlik

Losers of 2025

Recent OLED TV buyers

Calling an OLED TV owner a loser may sound a little weird – especially in 2025, where we’ve seen several excellent new sets hit the market, including the Product of the Year-winning Sony Bravia 8 II, which our TV and AV editor, Tom Parsons, openly describes as the finest OLED he’s ever reviewed.

But, for me, there are two big flies in the ointment. The first is the existence of Dolby Vision 2 and its Max tier. The new standard is set to launch next year and comes with a variety of technical benefits over Dolby’s current HDR standard. These include improved bi-directional tone mapping as well as the ability for directors to adjust the picture's frame rate.

Technicalities aside, all of these aim to let compatible displays offer a much more authentic, “as the director intended” experience. The issue is that it has specific hardware requirements at a local level to run – so, if you want to experience any of the benefits of Dolby Vision 2, your TV needs to have compatible hardware, which no existing set, including flagship OLEDs, does.

The second issue is the looming threat of RGB Mini LED. This is a new technology we first saw at the CES 2025 trade show in January, which is being pitched by big-name players – including Samsung, Sony, TCL and Hisense – as the successor to OLED in the top-end market.

Yes, we’ve heard these claims before; the difference here is that two of our team have been lucky enough to attend demos of the tech this year, and they walked away incredibly impressed. So there may be some truth the the pre-release marketing.

Which is why, if I’d just bought a new OLED, spending a pretty penny into the bargain, I’d be a smidgeon annoyed that I could miss out on the benefits of two new potentially game-changing home cinema technologies. This might not be the happy ending we were promised.

Words by Alastair Stevenson

Spotify

Finally. After eight long years of waiting, we eventually got Spotify's hi-res offering this year. And it was... underwhelming? Disappointing? That's maybe inevitable after such a long wait, but it didn't make it any easier to stomach.

Because while Spotify Lossless streams tracks in 24-bit/44.1kHz – which is better than CD quality and Spotify's previous 320kbps limit – that's lower than most rival streaming services. Apple Music, Amazon Music, Tidal and Qobuz all offer hi-res streams at up to 24-bit/192kHz, though admittedly most of their tracks have bitrates between 24-bit/44.1kHz and 96kHz.

Not only that, Spotify Premium is more expensive than most rivals too. It's now £13 a month, compared to £11 for Apple Music, Amazon Music, Tidal and Qobuz. (There are some caveats – Amazon Music is the same price as Spotify if you don't have Prime, and Qobuz is only £11 if you pay annually, otherwise it's £13 a month.)

At least Spotify hi-res doesn't have an extra cost, as was rumoured.

Now admittedly most of this won't matter to most people. Spotify is an unashamedly mainstream service, and most people will just appreciate the boost in sound quality. The typical Spotify listener probably doesn't own equipment sophisticated enough to reveal the extra hi-res quality that the rival services offer.

But we're not most people, and for us, the addition of Lossless wasn't enough to earn Spotify its fifth star back when we updated our review.

Words by Joe Svetlik

Amazon

It wasn't a great year for Amazon on the hardware front. While we did see the new Fire TV Stick Select launch at the tail end of 2025, we're still waiting for a new 'proper' streaming stick from the e-tail giant. The second-generation Fire TV Stick 4K and 4K Max launched in 2023, and now we likely won't see new models until towards the end of 2026 at the earliest, making it three years between full-fat iterations.

Now admittedly the last generation of Apple TV – the device, not the streaming service of the same name – launched even longer ago, in 2022. But the previous version to that launched just a year earlier, so we can forgive it. Whereas the first-gen Fire TV Stick 4K arrived all the way back in 2018.

Adding to Amazon's woes was its newest smart speaker, the Echo Dot Max. While we're generally fans of Amazon's low-cost, high-value smart speakers, this model was deeply unimpressive. Its uninspiring, muddled sound led it to a two-star review, and a recommendation to avoid. Must do better, Amazon.

Words by Joe Svetlik

Bose

Now we should say that in general, Bose has had a good year. It launched 2nd Gen variants of its QuietComfort Ultra Headphones and Ultra Earbuds, and both reviewed very well, earning four and five stars, respectively. Its non-Ultra QuietComfort Earbuds from last year won an Award, while its SoundLink Plus portable speaker earned a decent four out of five in our review. But there was one development which was unforgivable.

The firm announced that it's retiring all the smart functionality from its SoundTouch speakers without offering customers any compensation.

From February 2026, speakers in the range will lose their wireless functionality, effectively turning them into very expensive Bluetooth speakers. Not only will they no longer work as multi-room speakers, they will also lose the ability to stream direct from services like Spotify and TuneIn.

SoundTouch launched in 2013, and Bose says it's "no longer able to sustain the development and support of the cloud infrastructure that powers this older generation of products."

Fair enough. But with no trade-in scheme or compensation of any kind, customers are justifiably feeling thoroughly hacked off. If we had just spent £2000 on a SoundTouch system – as one reader who contacted us had – we would be fuming.

Naughty list doesn't begin to cover it.

Words by Joe Svetlik

4K Blu-ray

Like Bose, 4K Blu-ray hasn't had a terrible year. It's just not been a particularly good one, either. There has been no one criminally bad incident like Bose's decision to make its smart speakers dumb. Rather it's been a case of – to coin a phrase – a tepid bath of managed decline.

Recent events have conspired so that we've lost count of the number of nails in Blu-ray's coffin. Netflix's plan to buy Warner Bros. could see a rapid winding down of the studio's disc releases. Sony launched its first Blu-ray player in five years, only to remove the network streaming compatibility and hike the price into the process. And this was the year that Pioneer bade farewell to the optical disc market for good.

The malaise is real. Here's hoping 2026 proves more fruitful for the format.

Words by Joe Svetlik

MORE:

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The Sony Bravia 8 II made our list of best TVs

Check out the best soundbars to rival the KEF XIO

I started reviewing TVs way back in 2007, and I genuinely think that next year could be one of the most interesting for televisions in a really long time.

Why? There are three main reasons: the controversial introduction of two new HDR formats; a new, compelling challenger for OLED's top TV tech crown; and, on the other hand, the arrival (finally) of more affordable OLED TVs.

Let's look at those in turn...

Dolby Vision 2 vs HDR10+ Advanced: the battle nobody asked for

Back in September, Dolby announced that it was working on a new version of Dolby Vision, called, predictably, Dolby Vision 2.

The news was met with a… sceptical reaction.

We asked our own readers for their opinions and checked out some of our regular Reddit haunts, and while some people did respond positively, many seemed downright annoyed about the Dolby Vision news.

There were people arguing (fairly, in my opinion) that most TVs can't take full advantage of Dolby Vision as it is; others posited that the new format is just a ruse to force them to buy a new TV; and a few suggested that Dolby Vision 2's AI processing will actually make picture quality less true to what the director intended.

I understand all of those takes, and I continue to feel a little wary of Dolby Vision 2 myself, but the more I've read about it, the more I have come around to the idea.

The important thing for me is that it's all tied into the studios mastering the movies and TV shows we're going to be watching in the years to come. Dolby Vision 2 is, according to Dolby, all about empowering studios to tailor their content to the TVs we have at home, and enabling us to get a more accurate picture.

There's still a lot that needs answering. Are the studios actually on board with all of this? Are the enhancements genuinely intended to improve accuracy? Which manufacturers are getting on board?

Here's hoping we get a lot of answers at CES 2026 in January, because I've been shocked by how little the people I've been speaking to in the TV industry know about Dolby Vision 2. Frankly, they seem to be as much in the dark as you and I are.

If Dolby Vision 2 has an uphill struggle to convince us of its merits, Samsung's rival HDR10+ Advanced has a mountain to climb.

On paper, it's designed to do much of the same stuff – improve motion, contrast and colours with the help of AI, and take advantage of new, brighter display technologies – but Samsung doesn't have the links to movie studios that Dolby does, so the idea that these improvements are in the service of more accurate picture quality is even harder to swallow.

Of course, I'm not going to judge either of these new technologies before I've seen them in action (neither has been demonstrated in anything other than 'simulations' so far), and it will be genuinely fascinating to test and compare them.

Perhaps one or both of them will defy the cynics and usher in a new dawn of at-home picture quality. Here's hoping.

The RGB Mini LED onslaught

2026 is going to be the year of RGB Mini LED, of that there can be little doubt – but what does it mean for OLED?

Honestly, that's hard to tell. While some manufacturers have already officially unveiled RGB Mini LED TVs, most have not, and even those that have are rumoured to be keeping further models behind the curtain until CES at least.

It seems to me that different manufacturers have different plans for the new panel tech, with some pitching it as the new, all-conquering flagship TV technology and others seeing it as a step-down from OLED.

My take? I think the range of quality will be absolutely huge, much as it is now with 'normal' Mini LED TVs.

Let's not forget that RGB Mini LED TVs are still backlit, so elements such as the number of dimming zones and the processing that controls them will be incredibly important to the final picture quality.

Some TVs will have more LEDs and dimming zones, others will have better processing, and it's probably only those that combine both that will mount any sort of challenge to the best OLED TVs.

Even those that do will have their work cut out for them if the goal is actually to beat OLED.

I'm inclined to believe that no amount of tiny, coloured LEDs in a backlight will match the pixel-level contrast control of OLED, but I live to be surprised; I was certainly very impressed indeed when I saw Sony's prototype RGB LED TV way back in March of this year, and I expect the final version of that set to launch in 2026.

Ultimately, I do think RGB Mini LED will be a game-changer – I just don't know whether it's the mid-range TV game it will change, or whether it's the flagship TV game that OLED is currently winning. I'm sure excited to find out, though.

Cheaper OLEDs, finally?

In 2026, we saw, for the first time, a 55-inch OLED TV launch for less than £1000.

Said TV is the Toshiba XF9F, and while it's unfortunately not particularly good, what it represents is very exciting indeed.

We have long pined for and predicted the arrival of more affordable OLED TVs – and we might even have got them by now were it not for several significant global events that I won't mention here – but it feels as though they might, finally, be right around the corner.

If it were just the Toshiba XF9F, I wouldn't be so sure, but Philips also launched its 55-inch OLED760 model for £1199 this year – and, at the risk of spoiling our upcoming review, that's a genuinely great TV for the money.

In 2026, I can imagine Toshiba having another crack at the budget OLED and it being more polished. I can also imagine Philips going even more aggressive on the pricing of its affordable model.

My imagination even stretches as far as seeing the likes of LG and Samsung looking at these new, affordable OLEDs and deciding that they need to go cheaper with their entry-level models.

I'm not saying that there will be lots of sub-£1000 55-inch TV launches, but I do think that base-spec OLEDs will launch for less than ever before in 2026, and thanks to discounting, those people with a £1000 budget who want a large OLED TV will be almost spoiled for choice.

Won't that be a fine thing?

MORE:

Here are the best TVs and best OLED TVs you can buy right now

This is everything you need to know about Dolby Vision 2

Confused about the new panel tech? You won't be once you've read our RGB Mini LED explainer

LG has unveiled a new MRGB95 TV – and it seems destined to sit alongside its OLEDs in 2026 and perhaps replace them beyond that.

The big news here is that the MRGB95 is what LG terms a 'Micro RGB Evo' TV.

Despite the name, this isn't a Micro LED TV with self-emissive pixels in the vein of what Samsung produces, but rather LG's take on the RGB Mini LED tech that has been demoed by Sony, Samsung and TCL – and launched by Hisense in the form of the 116UX – over the last year or so.

The main selling point is the inclusion of red, green and blue (RGB) LEDs directly in the backlight system, so that the colours come from the backlight, rather than an LCD or Quantum Dot layer, which is how typical Mini LED TVs work.

The idea is that without a filter, key screen quality metrics, including gamut coverage, brightness and contrast, are improved.

LG says that the MRGB95 has "more than a thousand dimming zones with exceptional accuracy."

That's a far cry from OLED, which, thanks to its self-emissive properties, essentially has a dimming zone for every pixel, but it's a decent number by backlit TV standards. Besides, as we've seen time and time again, the number of dimming zones is less important than the way they're managed.

Key to this element will be the presence of LG's Alpha 11 Gen 3. This is the first time that LG's top processor will have been used in a non-OLED model.

According to LG, this "uses OLED precision to control each of the RGB LED backlights, bringing 13 years of LG OLED’s technical excellence to the RGB category."

The MRGB95 also brings with it LG's new 'RGB Primary Colour Ultra' feature, which seems to be a catchy way to promote the RGB Mini LED's colour reproduction abilities. According to the brand, the new mode will be able to cover 100 per cent of the BT.2020, DCI-P3 and Adobe RGB colour gamuts.

If accurate, this will be impressive, but a factor that’s heavily informed by the settings used when actually playing movies – trust us, no TV offers this level of accuracy in its out-of-the-box vivid mode.

LG has also talked up the MRGB95's upscaling powers, with 'Dual Super Upscaling' that apparently processes two types of AI upscaling simultaneously.

This upscaling will be particularly important as the MRGB95 will only be available in very large sizes – 75, 86 and 100 inches.

There's no word yet on how many HDMI 2.1 sockets the MRGB95 has, though you've got to hope it will match LG's C5 and G5 models with at least four. We know the processor can handle 4K/165Hz gaming, too, so presumably this will be on the cards for the new TV.

Sadly, LG hasn’t given us any firm details on when the range will go on sale or how much it will cost.

Despite this, we can’t help but get a little excited about it. Our TV and AV editor, Tom Parsons, managed to get a decent amount of time with a prototype Sony TV featuring an RGB Mini LED panel last year and walked away incredibly impressed, reporting:

“I was hugely impressed by Sony’s RGB LED prototype. It’s true that Sony could have been masking some flaws (there was no demonstration in a pitch-black room, for example), but the upgrades over the Bravia 9 and my beloved A95L were so stark, and the apparent downsides so hard to spot, that I can’t help but be really excited for the tech to go on sale.”

Since then, senior staff writer Lewis Empson has had a shorter look at a Samsung prototype with the tech, which the firm helpfully refers to as “Micro RGB”. He was equally positive, reporting:” I'm sure we'll see great things come from it in the not-so-distant future.”

Neither gives such high praise often.

Are you excited about RGB Mini LED? Or do you think OLED had nothing to worry about? Let us know in the comments.

MORE:

These are the best Mini LED TVs we’ve reviewed

We rank the best OLED TVs money can buy

Our picks of the best TVs available right now

Philips might not have the global brand recognition of rival TV brands such as Samsung, LG and Sony, but it sure knows how to put together a tasty-looking OLED.

The 65-inch OLED910 we have before us today combines the same Primary RGB Tandem OLED panel found in the LG G5 with Philips’ unique processing, support for all HDR formats, a B&W sound system, super-sexy styling and, of course, Ambilight.

What’s more, despite those superlative specs, the OLED910 costs significantly less than the flagship OLED alternatives.

Tempted yet? You should be.

Price

The 65-inch Philips OLED910 launched at a very-aggressive-at-the-time price of £2199. Rivals are now available for that sort of money, but the OLED910 has dropped, too, and can now be bought for £1799.

For reference, the 65-inch LG G5 is currently £2499, the Samsung S95F is £2299, and the Sony Bravia 8 II is £2199.

In other words, the Philips is significantly cheaper than similarly specced flagship OLEDs.

If 65 inches isn’t the right size for you, there is also a 77-inch version of the OLED910, which currently costs £2799. There is also a 55-inch model in mainland Europe, but this isn’t available in the UK.

Philips OLEDs unfortunately aren’t available in the US or Australia at all.

Design

Philips can always be relied upon to bring a bit of classy European je ne sais quoi to the TV market, and while the OLED910 doesn’t deviate much from the OLED909 in terms of design, it still stands out as stylish and sculpted against the more tech-first appearances of its rivals.

There are limits, of course, to what can be achieved when the vast majority of a device is a huge slab of screen, but the grey, Kvadrat fabric wrapped around the slim speaker bar softens the OLED910’s appearance significantly, while the dainty feet evoke images of balletic ice skaters.

While the feet are certainly neat, wall mounting the OLED910 is advisable if that’s an option. That’s because it features four-sided Ambilight, which means there are coloured LEDs arranged along the bottom as well as the sides and top of the TV, creating a full, seamless lightshow that dynamically matches the on-screen action.

There are those for whom Ambilight (and third-party alternatives) is anathema in any capacity. Still, there’s no denying how spectacular it is – while it certainly doesn't suit all content and circumstances, we think that even ultra-purists will get a kick out of it with bright, colourful content, such as the animated Spider-Verse movies.

Features

Philips has remained steadfast in its use of LG (rather than Samsung) OLED panels, so it’s no surprise that the brand has transitioned from MLA OLED to Primary RGB Tandem OLED for its 2025 flagship models.

Brightness is the key beneficiary of the switch to this new panel tech, with Philips claiming that the OLED910 can hit a peak brightness of 3700 nits with small highlights, and 350 nits of full-screen brightness.

Specific numbers such as these should always be taken with a pinch of salt on account of how they’re measured and the unappealing picture settings with which they’re usually achieved, but the fact that the OLED910’s numbers are so much higher than those of the OLED909 (3000 nits peak, 300 nits full-screen) is significant, and should result in a more dynamic performance, even in the more natural and cinematically authentic picture presets.

While many people still assume that a TV’s picture performance is all down to the panel, they’re still categorically wrong. The processing is at least as important, and powering the OLED910 is Philips’ own 9th Gen P5 AI Engine processor.

It’s worth noting that this isn’t actually Philips’ top processor, as there’s a Dual Engine version in the even higher-end OLED950, but this is still a super-powerful chip that’s worthy of a flagship OLED.

As you would expect in 2025 (especially given the name), the OLED910’s 9th Gen P5 AI Engine brings with it a raft of AI-backed picture performance features, such as the ability to classify content on-screen and adapt the picture quality to best suit the content you're watching. The latest versions of Philips' Machine Learn Sharpness system, an AI Smart Bit Enhancement algorithm, and AI Perfect Reality, which should enhance sharpness, colour vibrancy and contrast, are also all on board.

The OLED910 also continues Philips’ laudable commitment to supporting all four of the current HDR formats. So that’s the dynamic HDR10+ and Dolby Vision formats, as well as basic HDR10 and HLG. The same can’t be said of any TV from Samsung, LG or Sony.

On the gaming front, the OLED910 supports 4K/120Hz (and 4K/144Hz if you have a fancy-enough PC to take advantage), VRR and ALLM. Unfortunately, though, there are still just two full-spec HDMI 2.1 sockets, so any sources plugged into either of the other two HDMIs will be limited to 4K/60Hz.

It’s worth noting that one of the HDMI 2.1 sockets also doubles as the eARC port, so you’ll lose another 4K/120Hz socket if you need that for your soundbar or other sound system.

But will connection to another sound system be necessary? Philips and its audio partner Bowers & Wilkins would argue no.

B&W has produced a 3.1-channel, 81W system for the OLED910. The main bar features two 30 x 50mm midrange drivers, a single titanium dome tweeter, and a Nautilus tube in each channel. There’s also a rear-facing subwoofer with four passive radiators.

Hardware-wise, this is an essentially identical set-up to that of the excellent-sounding (by TV standards) OLED909, but B&W tells us that some re-tuning has taken place in order to provide an even better audio performance.

Testing the OLED910 against the benchmark Sony Bravia 8 II, and playing a whole range of content in Dolby Vision, HDR10 and SDR, we’re hugely impressed by how close the Philips set gets to our TV Product of the Year.

You do have to work slightly harder to get the most out of the OLED910 than you do many rivals, mind you.

Picture

When playing HDR10 content, the TV defaults to its HDR Eco setting which is, unlike many such modes, overly cool, over-sharpened and over-processed. It produces the sort of picture we would expect from a ‘Shop’ mode that is designed to attract the eye rather than deliver consistent, accurate picture quality, and we recommend you switch away from it as soon as possible.

HDR Crystal Clear pumps brightness and colours up massively, but it’s not horrible if that’s the sort of thing you like, and skin tones are still kept reasonably natural. HDR Home Cinema is the mode that’s designed to deliver largely authentic picture quality with a bit more pop for bright room viewing. HDR Filmmaker Mode is, of course, the TV at its most accurate – and the preset that we prefer and recommend.

Even in HDR Filmmaker Mode, Light Level Optimisation and Dark Detail Optimisation are both on by default. These and the other two ‘Ambient Intelligence’ settings, Colour Temperature Optimisation and HDR Optimisation, are worth experimenting with so that the TV adapts to ambient lighting conditions, but for serious viewing in a dark room, you’re best to have them switched off.

It’s also worth noting that even with HDR Filmmaker Mode, HDR Tone Mapping is set to AI Adaptive. Unlike some rival solutions, the impact of this is subtle, so we don’t feel the need to change it.

There’s also an HDR10 Effect setting. The default option here is ‘More Details’, which is pre-selected and gives the most accurate delivery. ‘Balanced’ and ‘More Brightness’ both boost brightness but at the expense of highlight detail, so we recommend also leaving this setting untouched unless you need every last nit of brightness – if you’re using the TV in a heavily sunlit room, for example.

Settings dialled in and No Time To Die slotted into our Oppo UDP-203 Blu-ray player, the OLED910 delivers a thrilling 4K HDR10 performance. As Bond struts across the bridge towards Matera’s famous cemetery, he does so in appropriately sharp, crisply defined style.

The Filmmaker Mode’s default ‘Movie’ motion setting is genuinely excellent, maintaining a firm grip on the movement of the people in the scene and rendering the extremely tricky panning shots with judder-free fluidity.

The fact that this is achieved without any soap opera effect is deeply impressive, and even the post-explosion smoke, which so often catches out TV motion processing, is dispatched without unwanted shimmer. This appears to be one of those rare Goldilocks motion settings. Even Sony would be proud.

This is also a bright and punchy performance, as you would expect from the figures given, but as long as you stick to Filmmaker Mode, the brightness isn’t forced. This is an image that is punchy, but also natural.

The same is largely true of the colours. There’s superb vibrancy to the delivery, but for the vast majority of the time, this goes hand-in-hand with naturalism and authenticity. That said, a smidge of oversaturation creeps in on rare occasions – Bond’s tanned skin looks just a touch too red in the close-ups in Matera and the swimming scene that precedes it, for example.

We find that this small issue occurs again when we switch to Civil War, also in HDR10. Wagner Moura’s skin looks just a little too sunburned when he awakens on the grass of a military base as tanks and trucks trundle by. It’s not that slightly nuclear tone that some lesser TVs produce, and you may not even notice without a super-accurate TV such as the Bravia 8 II alongside for comparison, but it’s undeniable that there’s just a little exaggeration to reds from the Philips.

This certainly doesn’t detract in a significant way from the overall delivery, though. Civil War is an ironically crisp and colourful movie that very much plays to the Philips’s strengths. As the battalion prepares for battle, the Chinooks and ground vehicles are sharply drawn, the surrounding greenery is lush and verdant, and the personnel are detailed. The whole mise-en-scène has a solidity and vivaciousness that few TVs can match.

The OLED910 handles dark scenes well, too. It delivers OLED’s trademark perfect blacks just as you would hope, and it combines this with excellent shadow detail – there’s none of the slight black crush that we’ve seen from the LG G5 and Samsung S95F. Colours are consistent from the brightest highlights to the deepest shadows, too, so skin tones don’t look washed out in dark scenes.

With every HDR10 movie we throw at it, the Philips OLED910 is undeniably excellent in its own right. It’s worth saying, though, that the Sony Bravia 8 II is even better. It’s even more solid and three-dimensional in its delivery, even more natural in its colours, and it delivers super-high-contrast images (the night-time forest fire of Civil War, for instance) with even greater punch and sharpness to the highlights.

The Philips gets close to the Sony, though – arguably closer than the Samsung S95F and definitely closer than the LG G5 – and that’s an exceptional feat given the lower price.

There are a couple of other specific flaws to the Philips that need to be flagged, too. While the Dolby Vision performance is broadly just as excellent as HDR10 (as long as you select the Dolby Vision Filmmaker Mode preset, that is), blacks aren’t perfectly black. This is another thing that you may not notice in isolation, but next to the Bravia 8 II, the Philips’s delivery of the opening of Alien: Romulus is a tad grey.

Interestingly, an earlier OLED910 sample that we saw suffered from some flickering and posterisation with this scene, and the LG G5 (which, let’s remember, has the same RGB Tandem OLED panel) had some issues with deep black in Dolby Vision when it first launched. It does seem that this new panel tech and Dolby Vision are less than best friends, and perhaps Philips’s fix for this has been to raise the black floor a touch. If that’s the case, it’s not a bad solution, but we wish it weren’t necessary.

We also need to mention that every one of the OLED910’s picture presets massively overbrightens SDR content. To be clear, the image is still very nice indeed, with excellent sharpness, clarity, control and colours to upscaled standard-def and HD content, but there should be an option to not have SDR boosted to HDR levels of contrast.

Ultimately, though, these are minor flies in the ointment. The OLED910 is an excellent picture performer overall, and it comes with very good sound, too…

Sound

Philips’s collaboration with B&W continues to bear very tasty fruit with the OLED910.

With every Dolby Atmos movie we throw at it, the TV produces a sound with lots of width, good effect placement, very good detail, impressive weight (for a TV) and lovely tonal balance.

There’s particularly good spatial and tonal organisation. As Summer Wind by Frank Sinatra plays in K’s apartment in Blade Runner 2049, it’s clear, but also balanced and positioned perfectly as background music.

Dynamics are impressive for a TV, too. Low-level dynamic subtlety means voices have lots of realism and character, and bigger volume changes are handled very adeptly.

The Entertainment setting is worth using to increase height and spaciousness. Enable it and the Philips suddenly delivers the rain on K’s rooftop in a way that fills the far end of the room, and the audio billboards are placed far higher up.

Other than a little softness to deep bass (infinitely preferable to distortion, of which the Philips produces none), there’s really nothing to complain about in the OLED910’s audio delivery.

For a TV, it sounds excellent – even better than the Sony Bravia 8 II – and while a good soundbar will sound even better, you’re looking at something long the lines of the Sonos Arc Ultra for a significant upgrade.

Verdict

The Philips OLED910 is a very impressive TV indeed. While it falls just short of the Sony Bravia 8 II’s picture greatness, it gets closer than most while costing a good deal less – and it sounds better, too.

If a super-stylish, bright and vibrant OLED TV with excellent sound quality and spectacular Ambilight sounds like your sort of thing, you absolutely have to check out this fabulous Philips.

SCORES

• Picture 5
• Sound 5
• Features 4

MORE:

Read our review of the Sony Bravia 8 II

Also consider the LG G5

Read our Samsung S95F review

Best OLED TVs: the 3 Award-winning sets our experts recommend

It's no secret that Sony is working on a new high-end TV that's utilising the latest RGB Mini LED panel technology; in fact, we've been treated to not one, but two behind-closed-doors demonstrations of the prototype set in action.

While those brief encounters haven't given us much insight aside from a vague idea as to what the new flagship Sony TV for 2026 could perform like, we now have a new piece of the puzzle that pertains to how Sony will be marketing this TV.

A trademark filing in Japan and Canada (first spotted by Sony-centric news site The Walkman Blog) has revealed that Sony has claimed the name True RGB, which is likely linked to the new RGB Mini LED panel technology.

Reliable AV news source FlatpanelsHD has verified the trademark filing, which can be found here.

This suggests that Sony is gearing up to launch its mysterious new TV, potentially under the True RGB moniker. That being said, the company rebranded its TV and AV offerings in 2024, combining everything under the Bravia title.

We'd be surprised to see Sony make a U-turn on this naming convention so quickly, which is leading us to believe that this True RGB name will instead be how Sony refers to the panel technology, much like how Samsung opts to call it RGB Micro LED in its TVs.

Speaking of Samsung, and also bringing Hisense and TCL (both of which are also making RGB Mini LED TVs), we're not sure as to how the other manufacturers will react to Sony staking the claim of having "True RGB", especially considering how closely Samsung is guarding QLED these days.

Nevertheless, this trademark filing could suggest that Sony is primed to launch its new TV next year; however, we have inquired with Sony as to when we could expect its first RGB Mini LED TV, but the Japanese AV powerhouse has kept incredibly tight-lipped.

With CES around the corner, it could be the perfect opportunity for Sony to start 2026 with a bang. Ultimately, we're one step closer to a new flagship Sony TV, which is exciting considering how much we liked the Bravia 8 II.

MORE:

I quizzed Sony about its mysterious next-generation OLED-killing TV – here are 3 surprising things I learned

Read our full Sony Bravia 9 review

Check out our picks for the best Mini LED TVs

In the past year, I've been involved in the testing of around 50 TVs.

Yes, that's a lot of TVs, and one of my favourites is the LG G5, which employs a fancy new Primary RGB Tandem OLED panel to dazzling effect.

It's a very tempting TV right now, too, as it's dropped to a record-low price of £1889 at Peter Tyson.

• Check out all of the Black Friday Week deals at Amazon
• Richer Sounds Black Friday event
• Sevenoaks Black Friday deals
• Peter Tyson: Cyber Monday event

But here's the thing: as much as I like the LG G5, the Sony Bravia 8 II is even better. In fact, I'm pretty sure it's the best TV I've ever tested.

The Bravia 8 II is discounted for Cyber Monday, too. Yes, it's a bit more expensive than the G5 – £1999 at Peter Tyson – but the extra is well worth paying, particularly if you're not going to partner your new TV with a dedicated sound system.

The Bravia 8 II is the successor to the A95L (a TV I love so much, I have one in my own living room), and it's a significant upgrade.

It uses a newer, significantly brighter QD-OLED panel, for starters. Sony doesn't push the brightness as high as LG does with the G5's Primary RGB Tandem OLED panel, but it combines the increased brightness with richer colours and Sony's peerless processing to produce an image that's exceptionally punchy and three-dimensional, but still consistent and authentic.

This is a TV that dazzles with bold, stylised content, yet it never strays into the oversaturated, over-processed territory that some rivals occasionally find themselves in. Instead, the Bravia 8 II maintains Sony’s trademark naturalism, delivering that careful balance between vibrancy and subtlety.

Dark-scene performance is especially strong. Gradation is handled with a finesse the G5 doesn’t quite match, producing true OLED blacks and shadow detail that feels layered rather than crushed.

And, as ever with Sony, you barely need to touch the settings. As noted in my original review:

“For a supremely authentic picture, simply pick Dolby Vision Dark for Dolby Vision content or Professional for everything else.

“Should you want a little more pop to proceedings, either because you’re watching in a room with ambient light or simply because you enjoy an even more thrilling delivery, simply switch to Dolby Vision Bright or the Cinema mode.”

Audio is another feather in the Bravia 8 II’s cap. Its Acoustic Surface Audio+ system produces direct, articulate sound with an openness that most OLED rivals – including the LG G5 – simply can't match.

A dedicated sound system will always be the better option (the Sonos Arc Ultra remains an excellent match), but for built-in speakers alone, the Bravia 8 II is unusually capable.

If there’s one caveat, it’s connectivity: Sony still limits you to two HDMI 2.1 sockets (one doubling as the eARC port), whereas LG offers four full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 inputs on the G5.

For setups with multiple consoles and an AVR or soundbar, that’s something to consider. But if you have just one games machine or none at all, that won't be an issue.

And that’s ultimately why I’d recommend the Bravia 8 II over the G5: while the LG has more HDMI 2.1 sockets and higher brightness, the Sony delivers a picture and sound experience that simply feels more cinematic, more refined, and more consistently satisfying.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday quick links

• Amazon: browse all of today's best deals
• B&W speakers: save £200
• Bluetooth speaker: 48% off five-star JBL
• Bose QC Ultra Earbuds: save £100
• Bravia 8 TV: save 34% on 55in Sony TV
• Denon AV receiver: save £500
• Dolby Atmos soundbar: down to £299
• ELAC Debut 2: five-star speakers now £199
• Headphones: Sennheiser Momentum 4 now £169
• LG C5 55-inch: lowest-ever price at Richer Sounds
• JBL soundbar: now better than half price
• John Lewis: £500 off LG and Sony OLED TVs
• Richer Sounds: browse Black Friday deals
• Sevenoaks: £150 off Award-winning speakers
• Sony headphones: now just £29
• Stereo amplifier: Cambridge Audio now £299
• TVs, movies, home cinema: browse the best deals
• Vinyl: 3 for £66 at Amazon
• Wireless earbuds: Award winners now £75

What TV should I get during Black Friday? That sentence has been rattling in my head for the past month.

Not because I need one personally. No, this is because a steady stream of friends, extended family, readers and even a random dude I accidentally made eye contact with at my local pub (his name’s Yusef, nice chap) have been asking me for advice, constantly, in the run up to Black Friday 2025.

• Browse all of Amazon's Black Friday 2025 TV deals here

And look, I get it. I made a deal with the capitalist gods when I became a professional chaser of shiny things.

In exchange for getting to test (play with) all the latest AV hardware and an industry-wide agreement that any t-shirt without cartoon characters counts as smart casual for work purposes, I would become the world’s tech support and personal shopper during Black Friday.

I made peace with that bargain many moons ago. But this year, as I was preparing to rattle off my standard advice to my circle of friends (and Yusef), who were waiting with bated breath for my pearls of wisdom as we enjoyed our monthly Sunday roast at the Forest Tavern, I realised something has fundamentally changed this year.

Specifically, looking around the table, I realised I’d already persuaded everyone (except Yusef, who was still on an Amazon Omni Fire TV Omni QLED) with the funds and general inclination to buy an OLED.

There was James with his 48-inch LG C2 (the same set I own) to my left, Ruth with a 55-inch Panasonic MZ1500 on my right, plus Michael, who pulled the trigger on a 65-inch LG G4 last year, across from me.

Each and every one of them had taken my advice and bought an OLED, either during a previous Black Friday or one of the multitude of sales that Amazon has run over the past few years.

And when James added, "Yes, but it’s been a few years now, is it not worth upgrading to the 48-inch LG C5?" My answer was a fairly blunt, “nope”.

"Why? Is it not very good?" He followed up.

The truth is, the C5 is still a very good OLED. Hence why the 55-inch LG C5 and 42-inch LG C5 both earned five-star ratings and What Hi-Fi? Awards this year.

But, as I noted earlier this week, I don't feel that the performance upgrades are big enough to merit buying a whole new TV.

We’re looking at incremental improvements for most step-down models – modest improvements to colour volume during low light scenes, higher peak brightness levels during incredibly bright ones. Nothing, “next generation".

And, as a result, while the improvements are obvious if you review products as we do – in dedicated, light-controlled viewing rooms with both models directly next to one another – in isolation, watching at home, many of you wouldn’t feel enough benefit to justify the upgrade.

The only true upgrade available is at the flagship level, where new next-generation QD-OLED and Primary RGB Tandem OLED panels do offer generational upgrades – so much so that our TV and AV editor describes Sony’s top-end Bravia 8 II as the finest OLED he’s ever tested, period.

But, here the cost is prohibitive, and more than any of my friends would be willing to pay – even Michael, who describes himself as a cinephile, remains “perfectly happy with the G4.”

Which is why, for the first time in years, I found myself not recommending any new OLED TVs to my friends.

Does that mean no one should consider an OLED? Of course not. The latest sets we’ve tested remain top performers thanks to their pixel-level light control and ability to create perfect blacks.

So if, like Yusef, you’re yet to make the jump to OLED and have the money to get one, then it makes sense to consider one of the many Black Friday deals on a five-star we tested.

I personally recommended the current deal at Richer Sounds that lets you get a 65-inch LG C5 for £1299 (save £1400), as it's a solid all-rounder with punchy but immersive picture quality and flawless gaming specs.

But for everyone else who’s upgraded within the past three to five years, it’s a tough sell, as, unless you’re willing to spend flagship money and are coming off an older step-down model, it’s simply not worth it, at least in my professional opinion.

Not convinced by my argument, or got more questions about which TVs and soundbars to look out for? Jump over to our Black Friday 2025 Live Q&A and you can chat to What Hi-Fi?’s experts directly.

Black Friday quick links

• Amazon: browse all of today's best deals
• B&W speakers: save £200
• Bluetooth speaker: 48% off five-star JBL
• Bose QC Ultra Earbuds: save £100
• Bravia 8 TV: save 34% on 55in Sony TV
• Denon AV receiver: save £500
• Dolby Atmos soundbar: down to £299
• ELAC Debut 2: five-star speakers now £199
• Headphones: Sennheiser Momentum 4 now £169
• LG C5 55-inch: lowest-ever price at Richer Sounds
• JBL soundbar: now better than half price
• John Lewis: £500 off LG and Sony OLED TVs
• Richer Sounds: browse Black Friday deals
• Sevenoaks: £150 off Award-winning speakers
• Sony headphones: now just £29
• TVs, movies, home cinema: browse the best deals
• Vinyl: 3 for £66 at Amazon
• Wireless earbuds: Award winners now £75

Black Friday week is upon us. As a consequence, as is the case every year, my inbox has been flooded with questions, many of which share a common theme: is it worth updating your TV during the event?

• Check out all of Amazon's Black Friday TV deals

And I get why. TVs have always been a big ticket item during Black Friday. I still remember watching two men wrestle to get one of a select few flat screen TVs during one of the first Black Fridays I covered, when it was still a physical, in-store event many moons ago…

But this year, the question is a tricky one as the answer is entirely dependent on your personal circumstances and current set-up. Which is why I’ve taken the time to pen this guide offering my personal advice to shoppers this deals season.

It may be worth upgrading your TV if…

If you're still on an entry-level LCD and yet to make the jump to an OLED, or even Mini LED, then 2025’s Black Friday event is a good time to upgrade your set-up, even if you’re on a strict budget.

This is because, while OLED sets justifiably get most of the attention, 2025 has been a great year for mid-range and even entry-level sets – to the point, for the first time in years, we’ve managed to find a five-star, cheap TV worth recommending.

Specifically, the TCL C6KS. Regular readers will know that we’ve struggled to find a sub-£500 / $500 TV to recommend for many years. That’s why last year our best cheap TV guide was nearly entirely populated with four-star sets.

The TCL C6KS changed this when we got it into our viewing rooms earlier this year, with our reviewers uniformly agreeing it’s not only a five-star set, it’s also the best cheap TV we’ve reviewed, period.

The main highlight is its use of a Mini LED panel, which gives it significantly better contrast and HDR performance than the Amazon Fire TV Omni QLED – its main rival and our former cheap recommendation.

Trust me, if you’re coming off a basic LCD set from even a few years ago, the C6KS will almost certainly offer a more immersive viewing experience. And with it currently enjoying a Black Friday price cut, letting you grab it for £349 at most retailers (save £71), it’s hard not to recommend it to any buyer on a budget.

My only words of warning are to budget for a soundbar. Even an entry-level option, such as the Sony HT-SF150, will offer better audio quality than its in-built speakers.

Gamers should also be aware it can only run at 4K/60Hz – so current generation consoles won’t feel as smooth or responsive as they do on more expensive sets capable of 120Hz refresh rates.

If you have a little more cash to spare, you should also consider the step-up TCL C7K. This is the middle child in TCL’s line and the Mini LED we recommend to most people, with its panel having more dimming zones, better peak brightness, more accurate colours and a higher refresh rate than the C6KS.

It’s also one of the best Mini LEDs we’ve tested, offering a perfect rung up the ladder for buyers who care about picture quality, but can’t quite justify splurging for an OLED – as evidenced by its What Hi-Fi Awards 2025 win and prime position in our best Mini LED TV guide.

The only downside here is that we haven’t seen a knockout deal on the unit yet. The best we’ve seen is a £50 saving at Currys, that lets you get it for £749. I’d expect it to drop at least another £100 during Black Friday, so it’s one to watch – but not pull the trigger on yet, in my mind.

If you’re currently looking at getting a new OLED model, then my advice is a little more heavily caveated.

If you’ve got a lot of cash to spare and are looking to get a top-end home cinema experience, OLED sets offer the best performance. Even the best Mini LED TVs we’ve reviewed can’t match OLED's pixel level light control, which lets those panels offer perfect blacks.

And if you’re on an old LCD then even step-down OLEDs are worth considering. At the moment the big deals I’ve spotted are on the 55- and 65-inch LG C5. Specifically, you can buy the five-star 65-inch set for £1299 at Richer Sounds. That’s a £1400 saving and the best price I’ve seen on the C5 this year.

If you want something smaller, the five-star 48-inch Samsung S90F has also had a decent discount already, retailing for £828 on Amazon. Though it’s not the best small OLED I’ve tested this year, at this price it’s a very compelling option.

Both sets will offer palpable improvements on any LCD and are well worth considering if you’re keen to get your first OLED this year. But, if you already own an OLED released within the past few years, I have a word of warning.

If you own a recent OLED, hold fire unless you are willing to go flagship

Having helped review some of this year’s top TVs, I’d strongly urge any buyer with an OLED released in the past few years to avoid upgrading to anything other than a flagship.

This isn’t because this year’s step-down models are bad, it’s just that the performance bump you’ll get won’t justify the added expense – I said as much during Prime Day, where I detailed why I still don’t feel the need to upgrade from my LG C2.

Step-down models are getting better, but the improvements are incremental compared to what we're seeing on flagships – a smidgeon more brightness here, slightly better colour volume there etc. None of them have been upgraded to feature next-generation QD-OLED or Primary RGB Tandem OLED TV panels.

These technologies remain limited to flagship level sets. This means that if you want a true, blow-your-socks-off upgrade that you’ll notice straight away, even coming from an OLED, you’ll need to be willing to spend flagship-level money this Black Friday.

If you are, I’d personally recommend the Sony Bravia 8 II. Our TV and AV editor, Tom Parsons, describes the next generation QD-OLED TV as the best OLED he’s ever reviewed. And having sat in our viewing rooms comparing it to rival flagships, I agree with that sentiment, with it offering the best holistic performance available right now.

And as luck would have it, the Sony Bravia 8 II has already had its price slashed this Black Friday. You can buy the 65-inch Sony Bravia 8 II for £1999 at Richer Sounds (save £200). My only word of caution here is that I am expecting it to go down a little more during Black Friday and that my recommendation is only for people on older step-down OLED models.

If you have a flagship released within the past couple of years, I’d recommend holding fire for at least another year – especially with the new RGB Mini LED tech set to launch in 2026 and promising to challenge OLED in the upper echelons of the market.

And that's a wrap on my advice to TV buyers thinking about upgrading during this year's Black Friday. On the off-chance I haven't answered all your questions jump over to our Black Friday 2025 Live Q&A. Drop your question there and I, or one of our other home cinema experts, will endeavour to get back to you ASAP.

Black Friday quick links

• Amazon: browse all of today's best deals
• B&W speakers: save £200
• Bluetooth speaker: 48% off five-star JBL
• Bose QC Ultra Earbuds: save £100
• Bravia 8 TV: save 34% on 55in Sony TV
• Denon AV receiver: save £500
• Dolby Atmos soundbar: down to £299
• ELAC Debut 2: five-star speakers now £199
• Headphones: Sennheiser Momentum 4 now £169
• LG C5 55-inch: lowest-ever price at Richer Sounds
• JBL soundbar: now better than half price
• John Lewis: £500 off LG and Sony OLED TVs
• Richer Sounds: browse Black Friday deals
• Sevenoaks: £150 off Award-winning speakers
• Sony headphones: now just £29
• TVs, movies, home cinema: browse the best deals
• Vinyl: 3 for £66 at Amazon
• Wireless earbuds: Award winners now £75

Hisense’s mission to prove that it’s now officially a serious player at the premium end of the TV market is really hitting its stride.

No sooner have we had our retinas blown off by the dazzling colour, contrast and brightness of the brand’s debut RGB Mini LED TV, the mammoth 116-inch 116UX, than we find our test benches sagging under the weight of the aggressively eye-catching talents of the 65-inch U8Q.

As well as being built like a tank, this representative of the most premium series from Hisense’s regular (as in, not RGB Mini LED or projector-based) TV range packs all kinds of serious and cutting-edge features and specifications.

But do all of its on-paper glories translate into the sort of performance heroics we now expect to see from a flagship-level Mini LED TV?

Price

Once upon a time, not so long ago, £1699 / AU$2999 for a premium, feature-rich 65-inch Mini LED TV would have looked like a bargain. The past couple of years have seen premium TV prices plummet so fast, though, that the 65U8QTUK actually looks quite expensive.

TCL’s latest flagship 65-inch TV, the 65C8K, for instance, is currently available for just £1199 / AU$1750, and two excellent OLED options, Panasonic’s Z90B and Philips’ OLED760 (review coming soon), are also available for similar or less than the Hisense.

As we’re about to discover, though, the U8Q really does boast some seriously impressive specifications – and crucially gets more effective all-round use out of those specs than any ‘mainstream’ Hisense TV we’ve seen before.

One note on model numbers before we proceed, though: while there is a U8Q model available in the US (it’s often called the ‘U8QG’), we understand that this is fundamentally different to the UK U8Q we’re reviewing. We’re told that the Australian version is, however, the same as ours.

Design

Setting the Hisense U8Q up proves quite the workout. While the bezel around its screen is fairly on-trend slim, it’s pretty chunky around the back by modern standards.

This isn’t ‘empty’ depth, either; this is a seriously heavy beast even before you attach its robust metal footplate-style desktop support.

The set’s weight hints at some premium innards as well as uncompromising build quality – a hint backed up by the appearance of metal-covered speaker outlets in the TV’s extended side panels.

As well as being compact enough to let you place the 65-inch U8Q on even quite slender pieces of furniture, the desktop ‘foot’ lets you adjust the TV’s height, potentially opening up enough of a gap to install a soundbar.

We wouldn’t necessarily call the U8Q beautiful in the typical shallow sense of the word, but if your tastes lean towards products that look like they’re literally bulging at the seams with cutting-edge tech goodness, then this Hisense is bang on the money.

The U8Q continues this design theme into its remote control. This is unusually big by modern handset standards, but it wears its size well thanks to a gentle brushed metallic black finish offset at its heart by a gleaming silver circle of menu navigation buttons.

It also scores over most rival TV handsets by featuring a large solar panel at the bottom of its front edge.

Features

The U8Q kicks things off here in spectacular fashion by featuring a VA-type LCD panel illuminated by Mini LEDs capable of pumping out, it’s claimed, up to 5000 nits of brightness.

To make sure all this light goes more or less where it’s supposed to, Hisense has fitted the TV with 2048 separate local dimming zones; a huge number that potentially immediately goes a long way towards explaining the large price gap between the U8Q and TCL’s 1688-zone C8K.

What a TV does with its dimming zones can actually be more important than the number of them it has, but having as many zones as the U8Q has to at least class as a promising foundation.

We should add, though, that some screen sizes in the U8Q range apparently use IPS panel types rather than VA ones, so we can’t say for sure that our experiences with the 65-inch model will apply to other screen sizes in the range. An IPS panel will usually, for instance, deliver less impressive contrast than a VA one.

Control of all the U8Q’s local dimming zones is delivered by a new Hi-View AI Engine Pro processor that Hisense claims sports a 1.6x faster CPU, 2.2x faster GPU and 1.5x faster NPU than the processor used on last year’s equivalent U8N TVs.

As you might expect with so much power at its disposal, the Hi-View processor extends to the TV’s audio, content recognition and power-saving features, as well as across all aspects of picture performance.

The U8Q’s colours are delivered using Quantum Dot technology to support both finer tonal definition and a wider range of tones capable of retaining saturations at the sort of extremely high brightness levels the TV can support, while gamers will be pleased to hear that refresh rates are supported up to 165Hz using Hisense’s Game Mode Ultra technology.

The set also supports VRR right up to that 165Hz maximum figure, including in the AMD FreeSync Premium Pro format. And, in its Game mode, the TV takes a respectably speedy 13.7ms to render incoming 60Hz graphics. This drops to just under 7ms with 4K/120Hz feeds, too.

You can also call up a dedicated gaming menu when a game source is detected, from which you can select such gaming aids as genre-themed image presets, different aspect ratios, a virtual Aim Point, and the option to enlarge a game’s mini-map.

As we now expect of almost any TV, too, the U8Q’s HDMI ports support ALLM switching, so that the TV will automatically switch into its low-latency Game preset when a game source is detected.

The U8Q scores further gaming points over many of its premium rivals by having all of its HDMIs (rather than just a couple) support the full range of gaming features enabled by the HDMI 2.1 specification. Less great, though, is the fact that there are only three HDMIs, when pretty much every other premium TV these days has four.

Hisense has an interesting excuse/reason for only providing three HDMI ports: it also has a Display Port (cunningly disguised as a USB-C port) tucked into the TV’s side.

While DP connections are fairly common in the PC/monitor world, they’re extremely rare on TVs. We can't help but reflect that we’d personally have preferred Hisense to have stuck with four HDMIs on the U8Q.

Other connections of note include a couple of USB ports (one 2.0, one 3.0), an optical digital audio output and a physical headphone output. Plus, the now inevitable wi-fi and Bluetooth wireless options.

The U8Q is capable of playing back all the HDR formats found in the mainstream picture content world, including both the Dolby Vision and HDR10+ premium HDR variations, with their extra scene-by-scene picture information.

An AI-backed ambient light sensor unlocks the IQ and Adaptive versions of Dolby Vision and HDR10+ too, meaning that they adapt their output to suit your room conditions so that you always get a consistent HDR experience.

The U8Q further underlines its premium position by achieving IMAX Enhanced accreditation. In other words, IMAX considers it capable of unlocking the full benefits of the IMAX Enhanced mastering system available on some Disney+ content and a few 4K Blu-rays.

Plus, there’s a Filmmaker Mode designed to present pictures based on the industry-adopted video standards used in most professional mastering studios.

In the UK and Australia, the U8Q’s smart features are provided by Hisense’s own VIDAA system (whereas the closest US equivalent, the U8QG, gets Google TV).

VIDAA still looks a touch basic compared with some rival platforms, but it’s actually really easy to use, including via voice control, and these days carries all of the key streaming apps most people will need. This includes Freely, which lets you livestream the majority of channels on the Freeview broadcast platform, rather than having to rely on an aerial.

Hisense hasn’t focused its premium thinking exclusively on the U8Q’s picture quality. It also features a sound system that delivers a claimed 70W of total audio power across a 4.1.2-channel suite of drivers. This includes speakers built into the TV’s sides, two up-firing drivers, and a promisingly large dedicated subwoofer built into its rear.

If you add a Hisense soundbar, meanwhile, you can also unlock the brand’s Hi-Concerto system, where the speakers in the TV and those in the soundbar work in tandem.

Picture

The U8Q shows a substantial improvement in multiple key picture areas over its predecessors, resulting in some genuine 'wow' moments. It isn’t quite consistent enough, though, to obliterate all of its competition.

The good news hits you first, though.

For starters, you’re instantly aware of how dazzlingly bright this screen is. It hits brightness peaks with small HDR highlights that are up there with the most intense we’ve ever seen. And, amazingly, it manages to retain the intensity of those peaks almost unchecked, even if they appear against a very dark backdrop, without that dark backdrop typically becoming greyed over or blighted by obvious backlight blooms or halos.

This gives us an immediate sight of just how advanced the U8Q’s backlight controls are. The extra dimming zones Hisense has introduced for its U8 series this year, together with what seem to be major improvements in the processing Hisense is using to drive those dimming zones, combine to deliver outstanding contrast and dynamism.

Surprisingly, the brightness isn’t as extreme in the U8Q’s Standard picture mode as it is on TCL’s C8K rival. But Hisense’s set pushes for deeper, richer black levels – especially with images that contain a particularly stark mix of very bright and very dark areas.

In fact, it produces a depth and neutrality with its black tones that suddenly makes us aware of a degree of greyness in the C8K’s darkest moments that we’d not felt aware of before.

All, to repeat this point, without causing the sort of backlight distractions or histrionics that might usually accompany such light extremes – including not having to dim down small bright highlights to suppress blooming.

The U8Q’s Standard mode colours sometimes extend beyond the saturation levels of the C8K too, joining with the rich contrast in producing images of rare intensity and vividness.

Even the heaviest saturations still contain plenty of subtle shading, though, helping images look three-dimensional, sharp and textured at all times.

The sharpness holds up really well when there’s motion in the frame, too, even with 24p film sources, thanks to excellent suppression of both smearing and judder without needing to introduce a level of motion processing that might induce excessive smoothing (AKA the soap opera effect).

While the U8Q can look class-leadingly good in Standard mode with very dark scenes, though, at least at first glance, if you look hard or long enough, a few issues start to present themselves.

First, dark scenes can lose subtle shading details in their darkest corners, leaving them looking empty and hollow – like dark holes in the picture rather than fully integrated parts of it.

The U8Q’s push for extreme contrast in Standard mode can also cause a little silhouetting with HDR sources, where objects against bright backdrops look so dark by comparison that they become mere shadows.

You can improve these problems via a handy Dark Detail feature, but it isn’t a perfect fix, especially as it doesn’t really do anything to stop colours from desaturating when they don’t have much brightness to feed off.

The Standard mode also very occasionally sees low-lit objects suddenly and distractingly take on slightly more light mid-shot as the local dimming system belatedly realises there’s an object there and decides to pump a bit more brightness into it.

The U8Q’s colours in Standard mode are slightly inconsistent, too. In one part of a particular shot or during a particular scene, colours might look excellent – even richer and more satisfying, in fact, than those of TCL’s 65C8K. But in another scene or even another part of the same shot, colours can look a bit off-key. This is especially true with skin tones, which can appear a little green around the gills and plasticky.

The Dynamic Tone Mapping Hisense applies to its Standard mode to try and optimise HDR to the panel’s capabilities can be a little over-enthusiastic, too. So while we generally applaud the light and dark extremes the screen goes for, occasionally a bright highlight will clip (lose subtle detail) quite noticeably, or you’ll see a sudden jump or drop in the image’s overall brightness in the middle of a shot containing what should be only subtle brightness variations. If you turn the Dynamic Tone Mapping off, though, the image feels a bit too flat for a Standard mode.

The U8Q’s Filmmaker Mode also feels a bit off, unfortunately. The adjustments this mode makes to the TV’s settings in pursuit of more accurate pictures find those fantastically inky and rich black tones on show in the Standard mode taking a pretty substantial hit, leaving dark scenes suddenly looking noticeably grey.

The Filmmaker Mode images are much dimmer than those of the Standard mode, too – more so, it seems to us, than they really needed to be.

Filmmaker Mode colours look a bit strange at times, as an apparent attempt to make the general colour tone warmer actually introduces an unwanted reddish pink tone to proceedings, and the greyness now apparent with some dark scenes causes relatively faint tones to look a little flat and blue.

It’s a tribute to how much the U8Q gets right, though, that despite its inconsistencies, it still classes as a strong picture performer overall – at least in its Standard mode.

Sound

The U8Q’s sound system makes a strong first impression.

It can get loud enough to keep the TV’s big and impactful Standard mode pictures suitably cinematic company, while having enough power in reserve to also propel sound effects far enough away from the TV to create a large and immersive soundstage that doesn’t sound forced or ‘gappy’.

In fact, most effects are placed quite crisply and accurately around the soundstage.

The U8Q rounds its sound out with a solid amount of bass courtesy of that large subwoofer on its rear, which joins some respectable headroom at the treble end of the spectrum in allowing Hisense’s TV to handle dense soundtrack moments with real force and power, as well as building up to suitably raucous crescendos with big action or horror scenes. The TCL C8K sounds rather lightweight and polite by comparison.

There is, though, a lack of discipline to the U8Q’s sound. That heavy bass can sometimes go too far with sustained bass sounds, succumbing to distortion, buzzing and dropouts when the going gets really tough, as well as sounding a bit coarse compared with other elements of the soundstage.

The bass is also a bit lethargic, meaning it struggles to respond to deep percussive beats with any real rhythm or clarity.

Some ambient effects, such as wind in the trees or people breathing heavily, can sound a little too prominent in the mix. And, finally in the negative column, while dialogue sounds clean and clear, it can tend to appear a bit stuck in the middle of the screen.

While the U8Q will of course be easily beaten for audio by a soundbar, it’s still a pretty strong sound performer by TV standards. Just one that could do with knowing its own limitations a bit better.

Verdict

There are times with the Hisense U8Q where we feel we are watching easily one of the best TVs of the year.

In its Standard mode with punchy HDR content, its combination of brightness, contrast and extreme backlight control feels truly cutting edge and is glorious to behold.

It’s just a bit too inconsistent and expensive, though, to secure that elusive fifth star.

SCORES

• Picture 4
• Sound 4
• Features 4

MORE:

Read our review of the TCL C8K

Also consider the Amazon Fire TV Omni Mini LED

Read our Samsung S90F review

Best TVs: flagship OLEDs and budget LED sets tried and tested

The 42-inch LG C5 is the smallest option in the Korean tech heavyweight’s current line of OLED TVs.

That automatically gives it a unique place in the market as most TV makers are forsaking people short on space this year, with Sony, Philips and more all shunning 42-inch sizes in favour of a “bigger is better” approach.

Add to that LG’s strong track record in the small OLED TV space, with numerous previous 42-inch LG C-series models going on to win What Hi-Fi? Awards over the past few years, and you can see why it quickly becomes one of this year’s most interesting options.

But, with changes to its specifications being fairly minimal, can the smallest C5 make lightning strike again? Here’s what we found after thoroughly putting it through its paces in our viewing rooms.

Price

• The 42-inch LG C5 has the same RRP as the 42-inch C4
• Prices have dropped since launch
• It's now similarly priced to rival TVs from Samsung and Panasonic

The LG C5 42-inch launched with the same £1400 / $1399 / AU$2199 starting price as the outgoing LG C4 42-inch. But prices have gradually dropped and you will generally find it floating at around £1099 / $1399 / AU$1695 at most stores right now.

That puts it directly in line with the 42-inch versions of the Samsung S90F and Panasonic Z90B.

If you’re after something a little (or a lot) bigger, you can also pick up the LG C5 in 48-, 55-, 65-, 77- and 83-inch sizes. Pricing goes up in line with the TV’s screen size, capping at £5999 / $5399 / AU$7999 for the largest 83-inch option.

Design

• Similar design to last year's C4
• The TV sits low on its feet, so a soundbar could block some of the screen
• The UK remote is basic, but some regions have a newer, better version

Like all the C5 TVs we’ve tested this year, LG hasn’t reinvented the wheel designing the 42-inch model. So much so, that one of our reviewers mistook it for last year’s C4 when he first saw it.

So, it’s a fairly light and slim unit, with feet rather than the pedestal you’ll find on the larger C5 options. These are easy to set up, as all you have to do is clip them into the easily identifiable slots on the TV’s back and screw in the four included screws. Even one person can do it in a matter of minutes.

The only downside is that the feet only have one height option, which is fairly low. Even a soundbar on the small side, such as the Sonos Beam (Gen 2), will block a bit of the display when placed directly in front of it.

The remote is also identical to all other C5 models, which is another minor annoyance. In some regions, the TV comes with a new, more streamlined remote, but in the UK you still get the undeniably clunky Magic Remote, which has been around since the LG C1.

The plastic unit is a little clunky by today’s standards and, despite our constant letters to Santa, doesn’t have a backlight or even USB charging, let alone solar charging.

The only minor perk is that it has basic motion controls that let you interact with the screen using a cursor, though even this has been known to annoy some owners (and reviewers).

Features

• Advanced AI processing promises a raft of visual improvements
• Comprehensive HDR support
• Flawless gaming specification

LG’s C-series OLED TVs have a strong track record for offering near-flawless feature sets, which is one of the main reasons why, for the third year in a row, the firm has not made any significant changes to this year’s model.

The panel tech remains basic WOLED, which isn’t a surprise as LG is keeping its top-end Primary RGB Tandem OLED tech for the flagship LG G5. Last year’s flagship panel tech, Micro Lens Array, has also been sent to the big AV farm in the sky, rather than trickled down to this year’s step-down models.

There’s also still no heatsink, which is a slight annoyance as the Panasonic Z90B includes one. This would, in theory, let LG push the panel harder without risking overheating and damage.

But, it’s forgivable as the C5 still comes with a few promised improvements to peak brightness and the ilk – though LG’s been careful not to put a specific nit count, or percentage boost, out in the wild.

While the 42- and 48-inch versions of the C5 lack the 'Brightness Booster' tech of the larger models, LG has seemingly squeezed a small amount of additional brightness out of the OLED panel, primarily through the upgrade to a new Alpha 9 Gen 8 chipset.

The chipset also leverages LG’s new and improved AI processing to offer movie fans better upscaling (an area where it has been falling behind Samsung recently), as well as better audio and more accurate HDR tone mapping.

As an added incentive, LG also claims it will help the set retain colour volume even during demanding low light scenes – an area in which the LG C5 48-inch and older LG C4 42-inch in particular struggle.

Outside of this, the TV’s specifications are pretty flawless. Like all LG OLEDs this year, HDR support includes HDR10, Dolby Vision and HLG. HDR10+ remains absent, but this is no surprise and is barely disappointing.

As expected, the 42-inch C5 features four full-speed HDMI 2.1 sockets, all of which can run games at up to 4K/144Hz with VRR. ALLM, meanwhile, automatically switches the TV to its low-latency mode when a game is detected.

One of the HDMI 2.1 inputs, as is the norm, doubles as the TV’s eARC port for people wishing to connect a Dolby Atmos soundbar.

The generous number of HDMI 2.1 inputs means even the most demanding of gamers with an Xbox Series X, PS5 and Nintendo Switch 2 will be able to have all their boxes connected at once and not have to worry about troublesome cable swapping.

LG’s WebOS 25 software runs the show and is identical to the version seen on larger C5 models. This means the UX is fairly easy to navigate, featuring rows of shortcut icons for apps and LG’s own marketplace.

Streaming app support is excellent and includes Netflix, Disney+, Apple TV+, Amazon Prime Video, BBC iPlayer and ITVX. There’s also a lot of nice gaming support, with a new Xbox app and GeForce Now offering convenient ways to stream games from the cloud.

Picture

• Very cinematic picture, despite the small screen size
• Skin tones look warm but not overdone, but tend to pale in low light
• Peak highlights are brighter than expected
• Lacks some solidity and definition in darker scenes

Powering up the LG C5 42-inch connected to our ever faithful Oppo UDP-203 4K Blu-ray player, running our 4K Blu-ray of Dune: Part 2, we’re met with a sense of deja vu, with the picture telling a very similar story to that of the 48-inch model.

In its default settings, the picture looks a little too artificial for our liking. The sunscorched desert holds a wonderful lustre, with every grain of sand sparkling and looking nicely sharp and three-dimensional, but the contrast isn’t right; the sky is too bright and missing some light detail.

Highlights on the Fremen fighters are pushed too hard, making them look as though they have a stage spotlight on them.

Working through the settings, things quickly improve. After some fiddling, we settle on Filmmaker Mode, with the lowest Cinematic Movement option on, sharpening and judder reduction off and dynamic tone mapping on for the best results.

Once done, the picture looks fantastic, with the Fremen and Harkonnen fighters looking wonderfully sharp and three-dimensional. The TV’s slightly warm colours and solid peak brightness levels create a truly immersive experience despite the screen’s small size.

With the lowest Cinematic Movement setting on, the clashing desert fighters' movements feel weighty and the set deals with the demanding rapid movements of the buzzing Ornithopter wings with zero issue. We never notice artefacts or ghost frames sneaking in as the scene plays.

Our positive experience continues as we transition to our Civil War 4K Blu-ray. The open segment of the test scene, where a character wakes up sunburned in the middle of an impromptu military camp, showcases what the C5 42-inch is capable of.

Skin tones in particular look fantastic, holding a pleasing warmth without ever looking overbaked – to the point that the S90F we’re testing it against looks noticeably too red.

As the film transitions to a night-time battle, the TV leaves a positive early impression, with the streets looking suitably sharp and stray tracer bullets and explosions offering higher peaks than we’d expect from a basic WOLED.

But as it shifts to focus on the characters, we notice a key issue we’ve seen on past LG OLEDs in recent years. Specifically, that colour volume is noticeably drained.

Skin tones suddenly take on a greenish, pale hue in low light, making them look flat and noticeably less realistic than the image on the S90F, which retains its warmth and colour volume and offers clearly better dark detail.

The issue is exacerbated when we switch to our Alien: Romulus test disc. The distant space background oozes menace, but as the isolated spacecraft slowly emerges from the darkness, it looks too soft, with key details not being as defined and sharp as they should.

This adds up to make the set a fantastic performer in most instances, but far from the final word with its handling of incredibly dark scenes.

The 42-inch C5 largely makes up for this with its decent performance in our standard upscaling test. Popping our SDR copy of True Grit into the Oppo player, the C5 deals with the incredibly difficult movie’s dim opening admirably.

There’s a pleasing warmth to the lanterns glowing in the otherwise pitch black scene, and falling snow retains its fluffy quality, never appearing oversharpened or being plagued by annoying artefacts.

Transitioning to a bright town scene, the film retains its intentional spaghetti western grain and looks nicely authentic, leading to an immersive viewing experience.

Sound

• Its 20W sound system is less powerful than the bigger versions of C5
• The AI modes designed to improve audio are best ignored
• The C5's flat, compressed audio is fine for TV but not for movies
• Cinema mode improves tonal balance and separation of sounds

Audio is an area in which LG’s OLEDs have struggled recently, with many of the sets we’ve reviewed this year offering, at best, middling sound quality compared to their rivals. This remains the case with the 42-inch LG C5.

The unit comes with a 2.0-channel, 20W sound system. As is usually the case with smaller TVs, this is the weakest sound system of any LG C5 this year. The larger 48-inch LG C5 has a 2.2-channel 40W speaker system, by comparison.

Like the other C5 TVs we’ve tested, LG's made a lot of noise (see what we did there) about the TV’s AI processing powers and how they help improve the set’s audio quality.

These include things such as a specific mode designed to further separate dialogue from background noise in movies as well as a dedicated AI audio mode, which claims to optimise the sound to the viewer’s tastes. The latter requires you to go through a point-and-click setup process, picking options that “describe your preferences”.

As before, we actually get the best results ignoring the AI mode, which tries a little too hard to separate mid and upper frequencies, at times pushing the speakers to sibilance.

But even then, moving to its AI-free, out-of-the-box standard mode, the audio is slightly flat.

Playing Civil War, the audio sounds a little compressed, with any rise in volume resulting in lost detail. The rumbling low end of explosions lacks the intended oomph required to get you on the edge of your seat.

We get the best results when we switch to the TV’s Cinema mode. Here, tonal balance improves. Voices become clearer and there’s some separation between the rumbling engine noises of the on-screen tanks and screaming gunfire overhead. There’s even some limited directionality to the tracer rounds flying from left to right on screen.

All-in-all, the audio is good enough for basic TV viewing in this setting. But it still fails to truly immerse us in the movie for a couple of reasons.

First, despite being better, the speakers aren’t powerful enough to properly project the characters’ voices, with demanding explosions and louder low-end background noises tending to completely drown out the dialogue.

Second, the speakers have a slightly flabby low end. This is particularly noticeable with our standard Blade Runner 2049 test disc. As well as being too weak to do justice to the bone-shaking synth soundtrack, the low-end thumps lack precision and fail to deliver the film’s intended oppressive, menacing tone.

Verdict

• The LG OLED42C5 is the best small TV of the year
• It boasts a flawless feature set and sharp, immersive picture
• The sound is the main drawback, so buy a soundbar

The 42-inch LG C5 is the best small OLED TV we’ve tested this year. Like its predecessors, it offers a near-flawless feature set and solid, sharp, immersive picture quality, neatly packaged in a small room-friendly frame.

The only minor issue remains its audio, which, while fine for casual viewing, isn’t powerful or precise enough for immersive movie watching. Plan for a soundbar in your budget, if you don’t already have one.

SCORES

• Picture 5
• Sound 3
• Features 5

MORE:

Read our review of the Panasonic Z90B 48-inch

Also consider the Samsung S90F 48-inch

Read our LG C4 42-inch review

Best TVs flagship OLEDs and budget LED sets tried and tested

2025 is rapidly turning into one of the most interesting to date for OLED TV fans. A big part of that is the sea of next generation TVs flooding the market.

And in that sea, the Philips OLED950 is our white whale – the last flagship from a mainstream player we’re waiting to test this year. Why should you care when we’ve seen other TVs with its new Primary RGB Tandem OLED panel tech?

Because not only is Philips promising the OLED950 OLED will go brighter than its already cornea burning Philips OLED909 predecessor, it's also promising to have fixed one of our biggest gripes with the firm’s past OLEDs. Specifically, their slightly aggressive handling of colours.

And after we pushed past the crowds to get some hands on time with the set, we’re taking those claims pretty seriously and can see the Philips OLED950 being one of the firm’s best TVs to date – if it continues to deliver the goods when we get it in for the full What Hi-Fi? treatment, that is.

Price

The OLED950 sits at the top of Philips' 2025 TV range, with the OLED910 nipping at its heels, just below it. The OLED has a price tag to match with the 65-inch and 77-inch models initially carrying £2799 and £3499 recommended retail prices at launch. If you’re in the US or Australia, we’re sorry to have to confirm that once again the models aren’t available in your regions.

You’ll notice we only mention two, rather large sizes. That’s because Philips has taken OLED TV makers’ focus on “bigger is better” to the next level this year and chosen not to release a smaller 55-inch model. Get your measuring tape out if you’re short on space.

The initial price puts the Philips OLED950 in the same bracket as the Sony Bravia 8 II, Samsung S95F, LG G5 and Panasonic Z95B. But, in an interesting turn of events, prices for both sizes dropped significantly the moment they went on sale. You can currently buy the 65-inch OLED950 for around £2199 as a result.

That makes it the cheapest flagship OLED TV from a mainstream player available right now outside of its slightly less advanced sibling, the 65-inch OLED910, which currently costs £1999. The closest rival is the Panasonic Z95B, which currently costs £2299. Above the two, the 65-inch Sony Bravia 8 II and LG G5 both sell for £2499. At the top, the 65-inch Samsung S95F currently costs £2699.

Yes, OLED TV prices are fluctuating fast right now, with us getting closer and closer to Black Friday, but that’s an atypically chunky drop in price for such a new OLED TV and potential differentiator for Philips in a crowded market.

Build

The set is also a slight departure from past models with its design, with Philips choosing to remove the bolted-on soundbar seen on its past flagships – much to our editor and other team members’ joy. This, plus its sleek feet design means it should be easy to place a soundbar underneath the screen, and that you could sit the OLED950 on a smaller stand with zero issue. We'll check to confirm when we get one into our review rooms.

The rechargeable remote also looks incredibly similar, almost identical, to last year's. This is no bad thing as it’s rechargeable and features a backlight – two things LG in particular doesn’t offer with its G5.

Ambilight fans will also be delighted to spot the four-sided Ambilight Intelligence 3.0 version around the set's edges. This uses light sensors built into the TV to optimise the light’s output to match the ambient settings, in theory helping HDR images look better in bright rooms and reducing eye strain.

Ambilight is a constant Marmite feature among the home cinema team at What Hi-Fi?, with some loving it and others feeling it's a distraction from what’s playing on screen. Based on our demo, here it works very similarly to the version we’ve seen in the past, so it’s unlikely to change either camp’s mind on the tech.

Features

When it comes to features, the Philips OLED950’s stand out specification is its use of a new Meta 3, Primary RGB Tandem OLED panel.

This is a tweaked version of the new LG Display-made panel tech seen on the five-star LG G5 and Panasonic Z95B and a direct rival to Samsung’s QD-OLED, which is used by the Sony Bravia 8 II and Samsung S95F.

It’s a completely new tech that replaces the Micro Lens Array (MLA) hardware Philips used on last year’s flagships. It’s different in that rather than create colours by combining red, green, and yellow elements in a single layer of the screen, it separates the colours into distinct layers positioned between two blue layers.

This apparently lets the set deliver an astounding 3700 nits of peak brightness (for 15 seconds) in isolated areas of the picture. On top of this, the tech also helps improve colour volume, especially in low light.

The OLED950 complements the panel with a 9th Gen P5 AI Dual Engine processor that is similarly heavily focussed on improving the TV’s colour accuracy and gamut coverage – an area where Philips has a track record for being too aggressive, creating slightly too vibrant, overbaked experiences in its bid to blow viewers socks off.

The chipset is doubly important as it’s one of the only big differentiators between the OLED950 and cheaper Philips OLED910, which has the same panel, but a slightly less powerful 9th Gen P5 AI chipset without the Dual Engine tech.

The most interesting feature it brings is a new AI Adaptive Gamut Enhancer, which uses frame-by-frame analysis to try and improve colour volume and let it deliver more intelligent light control, especially during bright HDR content.

In theory, this means skin tones and the ilk look more natural and apparently lets the TV cover 99.5 per cent of the DCI-P3 and 83 per cent of the BT2020 colour gamuts favoured by many filmmakers. We sadly didn't have our colorimeter to hand to check this during our demo.

Outside of this the OLED950’s specifications match most rivals. The increasingly common Google TV operating system runs the show. Dolby Vision, HDR10, HDR10+ Adaptive and HLG HDR support is included, as is 4K/144Hz gaming, with VRR and ALLM – which seems to be the new baseline for a flagship OLED despite the fact the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S can only run at 4K/120Hz.

It also has support for the growing HDR10+ Gaming standard of HDR, which is supported by Nvidia and offers similar powers to Dolby Vision Gaming when playing compatible titles.

The only downside here is that, despite adding a wealth of new features to the set's game mode, including a new mini map zoom feature which lets you adjust the size and location of in-game maps using the TV’s settings, the OLED950 only has two HDMI 2.1 inputs.

With one of these doubling as its eARC input, if you have a Dolby Atmos soundbar and multiple current generation games consoles, prepare yourself for some cable swapping as a result.

Picture

So how does the OLED950 look? Sadly, though we got a tech demo it’s too early to offer any final verdicts as the conditions were less than ideal and we didn't have anywhere near enough time with it.

The viewing room had overhead lights on and the Sony Bravia 8 II, LG G5 and Samsung S95F, as well as the OLED950 Philips being run in the comparison were all kept in their out-of-the-box settings.

Philips' reps also all but growled when we asked if we could play with the settings afterwards. Though in their defence, it was lunch time and we were holding everyone up.

Read our reviews of Bravia 8 II, G5 and S95F and you’ll get our thoughts on their performance in these settings. They’re not great out of the box – you need to tweak the settings if you want great results, as most are locked in Vivid or Dynamic profiles that overbake colours and have their motion-handling cranked to the max, resulting in over-smoothening and the dreaded soap opera effect.

But, there were some definite positives and interesting moments that left us hopeful about the OLED950’s performance.

Starting off, we saw a series of still 4K HDR images of various cities. Philips’ bold approach is clearly visible, with the red bricks of a colourful row of houses popping, creating a vibrant eye-catching picture. Transitioning to a test-still of a snooker table, we found the same was true of greens, which looked incredibly vibrant – one other attendee described it as a "Ghostbusters’ ooze green”.

Moving to a test shot of a woman standing outside a shop, the TV did a decent job retaining dark detail, with every item in the shadow remaining visible. There was a pleasing sharpness to the street as well, with paving stones retaining oodles of detail and every individual slab holding a nicely distinct three dimensionality.

This was a common theme as we moved to a panning shot of buildings, where every part of the concrete office blocks was sharp, and nicely separated from their background, creating an immersive sense of depth.

The same was true of a scene showing fireworks bursting on a pitch-black night sky, with the OLED rendering each explosion with suitable ferocity while retaining a pleasing amount of colour. We couldn't spot any blooming either.

Our only minor concern came when we returned to a day-time street shot, via which Philips tried to show off the accuracy of skin tones. Though there was solid contrast, even in the demo the set looked slightly off, with the darkest parts of some individuals looking a little too yellow – though this could easily be due to the less than optimal lighting conditions of the demo.

Motion has also been worked on. A challenging, rapid panning shot appeared smooth with no artefacts, which is impressive considering the state of things even a few years ago in the TV market.

This all made us curious to try the set in our viewing rooms with actual films, rather than test footage content.

Sound

Sadly, our demo didn’t include an audio element, so we can’t offer any insight into how the OLED950’s 70W 2.1 sound system performs. We do know that it is a departure from Philips usual approach to bundle a Bowers & Wilkins-tuned, bolted-on soundbar to the bottom of its sets. This only remains on the OLED910.

Early verdict

The Philips OLED950 is the last big flagship we’re yet to test this year. And while it has undeniably strong competition from the five-star LG G5, Samsung S95F, Panasonic Z95B and Sony Bravia 8 II, our early impressions are positive.

Though all signs suggest Philips still is pushing ahead with its standard bombastic approach to picture processing and tuning, reading between the lines it sounds like it has at least tempered some of its more aggressive tendencies – especially around colours.

This coupled with its currently incredibly competitive pricing and solid feature set could make it a serious contender in the top-end OLED TV market, if it delivers the goods when we get it into our viewing rooms for testing.

MORE:

These are the best OLED TVs we’ve reviewed

We rate the best 65-inch TVs

Our picks of the best Dolby Atmos soundbars

This week Anker unveiled a new “all-in-one mobile theatre station", the catchily named Nebula X1 Pro.

And if your first reaction was “huh!?” I can safely confirm you are not alone. The press material and concept images it showed are undeniably a little out there and turned quite a few heads among the What Hi-Fi? home cinema team.

I mean, it looks like Wall-E’s villainous cousin (I call him Wall-Evil) featuring a chunky design that crams a 4K projector and hefty sound system into an intimidating black chassis with wheels. It even has lasers built in (in this case a RGB laser projector system)!

Honestly, if you told me this was one of Skynet’s early foot soldiers I’d believe you, especially the way AI’s developing right now…

But, the more I stared at it, the more I increasingly found myself curious, if not excited at the concept. And after some soul searching I think I know why – it has a wireless 7.1.4 Dolby Atmos speaker system.

Sure it's not a "proper" multi-speaker setup, which we all know is the best way to enjoy Atmos. Instead, the system works in a similar way to the wireless soundbar systems we’ve seen recently, which include the Samsung HW-Q990F, JBL Multibeam 1300 Mk2 and Yamaha True X Surround 90A. But we know these systems can yield surprisingly impressive results, as evidenced by the Samsung's five-star rating.

And the one on the Nebula has some impressive specifications. Specifically, the 400W system pairs a central channel and subwoofer built into the main chassis with detachable wireless, satellite speakers, each of which has an inbuilt battery. The satellites each feature two front as well as upward and side firing drivers.

Why do I find that so appealing? It’s because I can see it being an ideal option for two key movie watching scenarios I often find myself in where the idea of a decent, but mobile-ish, surround system would properly elevate the experience.

The first is in my home. Regular readers will know, I tried and failed to get a full fat 5.2.2 system into my house. Cliff notes: I live in a small Victorian terraced where the dimensions and my wife’s insistence she doesn’t want to have to climb over cables and giant speakers every day meant it just wasn’t on the cards as a permanent installation.

This has meant the regular bad movie nights I host have been limited to the regular LG C2 OLED and JBL Bar 300 in my lounge. Good? Sure, but having enjoyed Bruce Campbell’s mug projected in all its glory on a 150-inch screen in the past, it feels undeniably small in scale by comparison.

Here, the idea of an easy to store, home cinema on wheels that I can hide in the under the stairs cupboard until it's needed and then easily pack away when done just makes sense.

Especially as a lot of the bad movies we watch tend to be horror, a genre where good surround sound is one of the most important things you need – if you haven’t watched Evil Dead Rise in Dolby Atmos, you’ve only experienced half the film, trust me.

The second scenario are the semi-frequent camping trips my wife and I have with friends. These are a yearly ritual where we pack up our stuff and either glamp, or full fat camp, in some isolated corner of Sussex with a group of our old university friends.

Given my job, I’m usually tasked with providing the AV hardware required for an outdoor cinema, which is important during the day to keep the growing number of sprogs in attendance entertained, and as a night time cinema for the adults after they go to bed.

At the moment we’ve been making do with basic portable projectors, most recently the Xgimi Mogo 4 powered by a portable generator/battery block I bring, paired with the same firm’s 70-inch pop up, foldable camping screen.

Good? Considering the price definitely. And I can personally confirm the younglings love the setup for binging Bluey and whatever Pixar/Disney film is in vogue at the time.

But, again, the difference between the Nebula X1 Pro and Mogo 4 should be palpable, if Anker has set the hardware up right. I’d hope a 400W wireless 7.1.4 system would outperform the Mogo 4’s basic inbuilt Harman Kardon 6W speakers.

On top of that, it would go a lot bigger. According to Anker, the 4K, Dolby Vision ready projector is able to deliver 3500 ANSI lumens of brightness and project an image up to 300 inches in size. Trust me, that's a lot of screen real estate.

Anker has also confirmed it plans to launch an optional, inflatable (!) 200-inch projector screen alongside the unit. The main chassis even has a built-in pump to inflate it, which sounds tailor made for camping.

And that’s why I can’t help but feel the Nebula X1 Pro growing on me as a concept and am eager to get it in for testing. If it can deliver the home cinema goods in the real world, I can see it appealing to a lot of people in a similar situation to me, especially if the company prices it competitively.

MORE:

These are the best projectors we’ve reviewed

We rate the best Dolby Atmos soundbars

Our picks of the best portable projectors

Regular readers will know that in recent years here at Sound+Image magazine we have been championing MiniLED panel technology for televisions as providing first OLED-busting value and then increasingly OLED-busting performance as well. Brightness and dynamic range of MiniLED panels overtook OLED years ago, leaving OLED TVs as recommendations for dark rooms only. And who has a dark room in Australia?

The leading lights in TV development long ago moved from Japan to South Korea, but in the last decade the biggest developments (and often, counterintuitively, also the best information on what they’re doing) are coming from the big Chinese brands.

As with MiniLED they began offering value, but they’re now offering some of the world’s most premium TVs, as well as some of the largest: TCL’s Australian ranges currently rise to the 115-inch diagonal of the X955 model (CSOT, the Shenzen panel manufacturer it owns, can now make any panel size up to 130 inches). Big 98-inchers are now de rigeur, topping multiple TCL ranges at different levels of TV technology; it was the 98-incher in this range which won EISA's 'Statement TV' award for 2024/5.

Given the joys of transport and installation, the only way we could review a 98-incher would be to enjoy it for a few hours in a PR suite or hotel room, and that’s not how we review TVs, or anything else.

So for this review we have installed the lowliest 65-incher for a three-week review. To compensate for size envy, this is a TV from TCL’s ‘premium’ line, the C8K series (see also the UK What Hi-Fi? review here), which bears all the tech advances introduced by TCL for 2025. It is fully loaded.

Build & facilities

Let’s start with QD-Mini LED. This describes a backlit LCD panel which differs from old-style LCD-LED TV in several key areas. Firstly, where the LED backlight used to be one big blazing light, the MiniLED concept broke that down to individually-controlled small LEDs grouped in zones that by now allow close to pixel-level precision. The 'QD' quantum dots then provide a pure colour source, excited into action by the MiniLEDs behind.

This 65C8K has full-array local dimming thanks to its thousands of Mini-LEDs in 1680 zones, which is one zone for an area around 70 x 70 pixels, perhaps a 26mm-wide section of screen. (The number of zones rises with screen size, up to 3840 zones in the 98-inch C8K, which would make each zone around 4cm wide).

As MiniLED TVs have developed (this is TCL’s fourth-gen LED, according to the Australian website), the quality of those MiniLEDs themselves has become a key area of focus. TCL’s latest LEDs use a new ‘super-condensed micro lens’ to further optimise light shaping and minimise side spill, thereby improving light targeting precision per zone, energy efficiency and peak brightness – the headline brightness spec for the 65C8K being that it can hit 4500 nits peak brightness when in Dynamic Mode, and more usefully can deliver stable sustained brightness around 3600 nits in its ‘High-light’ mode. This is double the brightness of only a couple of years ago, and approaches the brightness of the mastering monitors used in the movie industry.

We should emphasise that this brightness is for highlights; it’s not going to sit there burning out your eyeballs all day. Average brightness during operation might be around 700 nits, which TCL compares with typically 200-250 nits from OLED TVs, emphasising MiniLED’s better suitability in particular for HDR viewing in well-lit rooms.

One of the problems of bright lights and even zoned LED panels can be halo artifacts, as zones spill light around a small bright object, or create lagging ‘trails’ as bright objects move across the screen. TCL’s micro lenses address this, as does ‘micro-OD’, an effort to reduce the optical distance from LED to panel (also allowing a thinner TV), along with improvements on how the zones are driven in combination with the panel itself: there is here hybrid 23-bit DC/PWM control for those 1680 independently-addressable zones; TCL says this corresponds to 12-bit linear light processing with transfer functions to accurately render HDR10+ and Dolby Vision curves.

The panel itself is a CrystGlow WHVA panel with a high native contrast ratio of 5700 to 1 (the final Mini-LED contrast ratio was measured in Poland during an EISA event at 29,500:1 in ‘High’ setting). WHVA is a further upgrade of CSOT's HVA (High Vertical Alignment) technology, the W adding ‘Wide’ to indicate better off-axis performance, as well as having higher refresh rates and lower reflectivity. Remarkably there is also production-stage calibration for these TVs to correct for any individual panel and backlight variance.

All this, says TCL, yields improved zone uniformity across the TV image, and gives the ability to enjoy bright highlights and near-true blacks in real HDR scenes, rather than just in isolated test patterns. TCL's zone switching speed has also been increased, with a faster transient response helping display rapid lateral motions, especially in sport and gaming.

As for colour, the MiniLED lights excite the quantum-dot colour conversion of TCL’s QLED technology, here delivering a measured gamut of 97% DCI-P3 and 80% Rec.2020.

It is a 4K TV, of course, and something rarely considered is how little 4K material ever really gets watched on 4K TVs – Blu-rays are 2K, broadcast is 2K and below, anything other than a top streaming plan will likely prevent you streaming 4K movies. So the ability to upgrade from lesser material is a modern TV essential.

TCL’s processing for this lies in the AiPQ Pro processor, upgraded this year to use a broader training set used to identify material type for scene-adaptive upscaling, aiming to improve results especially from 720p and other SDR streams, and even interlaced broadcasts. There is AI, of course! – here deep learning and neural-processing units for artifact reduction and to reconstruct fine detail in edge regions and textures using up to 10-bit gradation.

Indeed there is AI this, that and the other, along with trailing buzzwords everywhere, like a Dynamic Lighting Bionic Algorithm, and Bionic Colour Optimisation Technology! Such things are hard to judge in isolation, of course, so let’s plug it up and see what we actually get.

Installation & set-up

It is indeed a good-looking TV, and the packaging, while necessarily large, is nicely designed to assist in getting it out and attaching the central stand, which requires eight screws to put the stand together and another four to attach it to the TV.

Again TCL implements its minor masterstroke here in offering two sets of holes on the back for the stand. Set A will put the bottom of the TV just 42mm from the tabletop on which the stand is placed, nice and low, but too low for a soundbar, so if that’s your choice of sound system then use Set B, which raises the TV higher to clear a soundbar, even one with feet attached to span the central stand. Screws were all included, and fitted straight into the holes perfectly! Not always the case.

With the TV in position, it was time for the great plastic removal – a full binliners’ worth to strip from the screen: two padded panels, four side strips, three stick-ons alerting you to the three-year warranty and 5-star (450kWh) energy rating, and finally the full-screen peel to reveal the 65C8K in all its beauty. Because it is quite a beauty – from the front, in being marvellously minimalist in what you see other than the picture, and from the side (oh, more plastic there when we went to look) in being sleekly aluminium-edged, slim-backed and straight all the way from top to bottom, none of your big bulbous bit down the bottom at the back.

And we were delighted to note that the stand is almost non-reflective. The screen itself is glossy, said to be the optimal choice for deeper blacks and contrast, but there’s a very effective anti-reflection film which made this TV the first we've had in place on which the missus could play Wordle without closing the skylight blind. These things matter.

We made our connections. Four HDMI inputs are available for external source connections, alongside a USB-A slot (3.0) for file playback, and the LAN Ethernet connection (and dual-band Wi-Fi 6 inside). There’s an optical audio output, but no headphone or analogue audio out.

The HDMI inputs are all labelled in the TV’s specs as HDMI 2.1 standard, but in fact only two of them have the full bandwidth of 48Gbps; the other two are limited to HDMI 2.0’s 18Gbps, so they are labelled on the TV itself as 4K/60 (which is quite enough bandwidth for standard purposes). There is support on these sockets for just a few HDMI 2.1 features (Dynamic HDR, Auto Low Latency Mode), and the HDMI Licensing Administrator allows manufacturers to call such sockets HDMI 2.1, when they clearly aren’t, really. There’s certainly no sign yet of HDMI 2.2 here, which doubles bandwidth again, and will be likely to show up on next year’s premium models.

Audio via eARC is supported on HDMI socket 1, so our resident Yamaha AV receiver was connected there, an AppleTV 4K into another, computer into another. Other sources were plugged into the AV receiver.

We powered up the TV, to be greeted by the latest Google TV interface, inviting us to use the 'Google Home' app to initially set up the TV, showing a QR code to scan (so do this on your phone/tablet, not a computer).

We use Google Home plenty (our home ‘Home’ is quite cluttered, indeed), but we find the system’s hit rate for setting up devices to be low. For example, TCL here doesn’t give enough information for you to make the first choice offered by Google Home: when you press ‘Add device’, Google Home offers three choices: which to choose?

First option is Matter-enabled devices, and this did ask for a QR code as offered by the TCL. But when we offered this QR code, Google returned “this is not the code you are looking for”. Funny, but not helpful.

Third choice is ‘Works With Google Home’, also wrong. The second option: ‘Google Nest or partner device’ is not the obvious choice, but is the one to go for. Google Home still took a while, found a strangely-named TV, and got as far as connecting the TV to Wi-Fi before failing repeatedly to do so, or doing so but then announcing there was no internet anyway.

This left nowhere to go, so we backed out of Google Home (as so often happens) and went through the full manual TV set-up, using the remote control to enter emails and passwords (zzz), after which it connected straight to Wi-Fi and had no further problems. Google TV is great once it’s working; it’s smooth, clever, great for streaming, and it even showed our Google Photos as a screensaver. But sadly, setting up products via Google Home is often just a bit rubbish.

Viewing sessions

We soon had our UHD Blu-ray player playing at 4K through the receiver to the TCL; one early disc played was the animated The War of the Rohirrim, which comes with a magnificent LOTR-style fully-orchestrated Atmos soundtrack. Animated visuals aren’t something we’d calibrate to for colour, but it’s a great disc for seeing how motion is handled, since the 24-frame-per-second 4K delivery combines animations made at 24fps, 12fps and 8fps. Near the beginning there’s movement over maps, mountains and landscapes that makes a great test for smoothness. With some TVs you can struggle to get the perfect cadence; we usually start in Filmmaker mode or equivalent, then dial in as much de-judder and de-blur as required to fix difficult material.

That worked well here; after we cooled the ‘warm’ colours of Filmmaker mode back to neutral, we dialled in ‘Custom’ motion of ‘4’ Blur reduction and ‘5’ Judder reduction. Did the job nicely.

We also realised that the preset ‘Medium’ motion setting did much the same as our custom choices, and we were more surprised to find that both the ‘Intelligent’ and ‘Standard’ picture modes also did much the same, give or take a slightly garish ‘Dynamic Color’ selection for ‘Standard’ which turned slightly blue skies very blue and slightly orange ones into burning sunsets.

That proved too much for the UHD Blu-ray of My Fair Lady; the opening scenes of staircases of haute couture were hyper-realistic in their HDR colour, borderline postery from over-interpolation of frames in ‘Intelligent’ picture mode. So we returned to Filmmaker to dial motion down to 3 Judder; this mode also restrained the colours to more properly cinematic tones.

Great cadence work with 24fps movies, then. How about Australian native 50fps content? There’s no problem viewing this off-air, but what happens when watching Australian catch-up apps via the Google TV interface?

We loaded a torture test, episode 2 of the ABC’s Nemesis documentary in iView; after the intro credits there are vertical and horizontal tracking shots of Canberra’s lake, shots with moving water, then captions over everything; it’s a nightmare for TV processing to handle, and it shows up particularly anything locked to a 60Hz output. Our motion settings for Filmmaker mode worked well; ‘Standard’ did brilliantly well; indeed this combination of image quality and cadence provided the first time we’ve identified a deliberate drop-shadow on the text of those overlaid captions – this was like the video equivalent of hearing new things in your favourite music on a good hi-fi; we’ve watched this clip hundreds of times.

So this is great performance with out-of-the-box default settings – it means that many more users will enjoy good cadence settings. Part of this may be that the genuine HDMI 2.1 inputs can offer 144Hz Motion Clarity Pro, said to minimise judder and stutter across all major content types, while TCL's frame rate conversion interpolates up to 120Hz for film and broadcast, including proper 5:5 pull-down for 24fps content. We didn’t need to invoke TCL's LED Motion Clear, which adds black frame insertion at the cost of brightness; we were already happy. And we are utterly judder-allergic.

These abilities will also service latest-gen games consoles; a Game Bar (see above) is triggered automatically, loaded with information, while supported frame formats include 4K 144Hz VRR, 1080p 240Hz/288Hz VRR, and there’s Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM) via multiple standards.

The Mr Fair Lady UHD Blu-ray arrived in HDR10: the 65C8K supports also HDR10+ and Dolby Vision, including Dolby Vision IQ, which is the same thing but adjusted using a built-in light sensor, heaven knows where. The HDR10 didn’t lock us into a strict HDR mode, and in our adjusted Filmmaker Mode the blacks really were subjectively total, yet not falsely so, as there was still great detail in the darkened columns and walls around night-time Covent Garden, and marvellous subtlety and texture to the colour tones and texture in Hepburn’s flower-seller costume.

Dolby Vision content does trigger special Dolby Vision (DV) modes; at least it did from Strange New Worlds on Paramount+ via Google TV (we couldn’t get it to do so from Disney+). You then have a choice of three DV modes: DV IQ, using the ambient sensor, or DV Light or DV Dark. On all these, the brightness and motion settings were maxed out; we used DV Dark and tweaked things back to natural cinematic levels. So with this type of content, some user tweaking may be required to avoid something which is only superficially impressive.

Talking of using the Google TV interface, this also offers TCL Channels, both free-to-air and catch-up material; these things vary in quality and quantity, of course, but we stopped counting the free channels at 150, so there’s plenty to play with, beyond other free offerings from endless Android apps like Tubi and Kanopy.

Audio

While we listened initially through a connected sound system, as we imagine many of our Sound+Image readers will do, TCL does make much of its own built-in sound system, on which it has this year been working with Bang & Olufsen, the Danish marque known for entertainment systems, although as much for prioritising external styling as sound quality; presumably it’s the latter TCL is targeting in the collaboration.

This includes a ‘Beosonic’ feature, which took us a while to find – no mention of it at all in the manual; we even tried downloading TCL and B&O apps in case it was there, but neither app could ‘see’ the TV. We found the Beosonic adjustment eventually in the TV’s Audio menus, but it is greyed out until you select ‘Custom’ sound. Then a circle appears with the N-S poles marked as Bright and Warm, the W-E poles as Relaxed and Energetic, and you can move your cursor anywhere in the circle. We’d love to know how many people ever find this and bother to use it! – though it might be useful for taming sibilance on daytime TV. The custom audio mode also alerted us to 'Bass Boost' being selected by default, and the sound cleaned up a little with that turned off.

All this applies only if you’re using the TV’s own speakers, of course. And the built-in system did sound larger than most, spreading sound quite wide, and with both depth and clarity far above most TV audio systems. There’s even an effort at height delivery, though we didn’t notice any. It’s a balance that’s best for keeping movies nice and clear; when we played music through the system, there was no bottom octave of bass at all (even when we put the bass boost back in), and the overall sound balance was revealed as unpleasantly artificial on many instruments and vocals. We used AirPlay to send music (which requires activation first in the 'System' menus); Google Cast obviously works as well, and there’s even Miracast for Windows PCs.

The TV’s own sound system is expandable, rather like B&O does with its own TVs, so you can add TCL's Z100 Flex Connect system supporting up to four wireless speakers, although this system is not yet available here, expected in Australia Q1 next year. But anyway our advice is to connect a good external audio system, and then the TV can be used as a music hub as well as a TV, playing everything via HDMI eARC/ARC into a solid sound system.

There’s an extra audio bonus from TCL around lipsync. While HDMI now is supposed to be clever enough to eliminate lipsync issues, it doesn’t always do so. Here there are adjustments for both analogue Audio Delay and Digital Audio Out Delay; this is common enough. But TCL includes the miracle of negative delay, which thereby fixes lagging audio, nearly always the source of sync problems, and unfixable by delaying audio still further. Negative delay requires memory buffering, which few companies can be bothered to pay for – but TCL does, and we salute it. One glitch, however – on this new model the negative delay can’t operate with surround soundtracks, only if you switch the whole system to stereo. So it’s less useful than it might be.

And we did experience sync issues when playing via eARC from the HDMI 1 socket, sometimes a distracting audio delay of perhaps 20-25ms. Through the TV’s own sound system, this was not evident, so one might blame the connected system, though this TCL TV was installed in place of a lesser TCL Roku TV, which has never exhibited lip sync delay through the same system.

Verdict

An absolutely superb TV, continuing TCL’s demonstration of what must now be called global leadership in TV technology development and innovation. Mini LED again proves its merits, even more than ever now, with deeper blacks and dark detail against those astonishing nit levels now available for HDR peak performance. Default settings are generally excellent, as well, so most users will enjoy excellent images out of the box, while it can be tuned to perfection by those keen to do so.

Many Sound+Image readers will be buying primarily for this level of picture quality, but TCL stacks the extras high around that: Google TV with its endless apps, gaming features, TCL Channels, and better built-in sound than most, along with a very attractive TV design in itself.

Next year will be interesting: TCL’s display-manufacturing subsidiary CSOT has already got RGB Mini-LED panels on the way, while printable OLED panels at TV dimensions may not be far behind. But meanwhile we don’t reckon you’ll find a better MiniLED TV than this 65C8K Australian edition, and certainly not at this price.

• See all our Australian reviews from Sound+Image and Australian Hi-Fi magazines

• Showcase! - world-class Australian home theatres & smart homes

At both January’s CES in Las Vegas and the recent IFA technology show in Berlin, the hottest topic of conversation in the TV world was RGB Mini LED technology.

This creates colours by using individual red, green and blue LEDs rather than shining a blue or white light through (usually Quantum Dot) RGB colour filters.

There’s currently no single name for this approach; different brands call it different things, and there are small variations in how different brands are applying the core new technology. But demos of the technology in action have all been pretty spectacular, suggesting that another true sea-change in TV performance is upon us.

The race to bring this exciting new technology to market first has been won by Hisense, in the epic shape of the 116-inch 116UX.

Being first with such a key technology is itself a significant feather in the cap for the Chinese brand, but making its first ‘RGB Mini LED’ TV a huge 116UX model backed up by all manner of other serious performance-enhancing features feels like a major statement of intent. Hisense, folks, now wants to lead the TV conversation rather than follow it.

The extravagant claims Hisense is making for its RGB Mini LED debutante include coverage of more than 90 per cent of the extreme BT 2020 colour gamut, peak brightness beyond 8000 nits and thousands of separately controlled local dimming zones – so when the opportunity arose for us to spend some quality time with a 116UX we could hardly pass it up. Even though the logistics of handling a 116-inch screen meant travelling to Hisense’s Leeds UK HQ to see the beast in action rather than taking delivery of it in our usual test rooms.

We were, though, given a full day to ourselves with a full production, store-ready 116UX sample, in a room where we could have complete control over ambient light levels and feed the TV any content we liked using our own sources. So the experience we’re about to describe is about as close to a full review as we could get without actually being able to call it a full review.

Price

Of the many big numbers associated with the Hisense 116UX, there’s no avoiding the fact that the biggest is its £24,999 / $29,999 / AU$39,995 price tag.

This is new car/first home deposit level money rather than the sort of sum the vast majority of even the most ardent AV fans would consider dropping on a TV.

To be fair, though, this is pretty much the same price Sony expects you to pay for its fantastic Bravia Projector 9 SXRD projector, or LG expects you to pay for the 97-inch version of its G5 OLED TV. And the 116UX claims to deliver much more brightness and colour range than either of those rival displays.

So, ultimately, while precious few people will ever be in a position to buy one, the 116UX’s price is hardly unprecedented in the big-screen AV world – especially when you’re talking about a screen that boasts a promising new display technology.

Design

You won’t be surprised to hear that the Hisense 116UX’s design is dominated by its enormity.

It totally dominated the large (way bigger than any typical living room) conference-style room we looked at the TV in, and completely filled our field of view when we were sitting what felt like the optimum distance away from it.

As such, it delivers the same sort of overwhelming home cinema experience usually only possible from a premium projector.

Not surprisingly, all that screen acreage needs to be held in a seriously robust chassis.

Hisense has managed to make this chassis look about as attractive as such heavy-duty bodywork can, though, thanks to a premium metallic finish, eye-catching speaker ‘tubes’ running down each of the screen’s sides, and further grilled speaker areas unexpectedly built into the screen’s top edge.

The TV helpfully ships with detachable carry handles on its back (though we recommend having the set installed for you by professionals if possible, rather than taking it on yourself with a few mates in tow), and it sits on a pair of strong but slender blade-style feet that you scarcely notice against all the screen above them.

The epic but glamorous TV is joined by a pleasingly premium-feeling remote control that again sports a metallic finish and also carries a solar panel at its bottom. So while you may have blown a small fortune on the TV, at least you don’t need to buy any batteries for the remote. Yay.

Features

As you’d hope with a £24,999 / $29,999 / $39,995 TV, the 116UX boasts numerous headline-grabbing features.

There’s its 116-inch screen. There’s the illumination of that screen by the all-important new RGB Mini LED technology. There’s a local dimming system that operates over a huge 3584 separately controlled zones. There’s a claimed massive peak brightness of 8000 nits.

In short, this is anything but just another TV.

Delving behind these headline features, the 116UX’s numerous cutting-edge attributes are controlled by a new high-powered Hi-View AI Engine X processor specially developed to unlock the potential of the 116UX’s ground-breaking hardware.

The 116UX is very much a TV rather than just the ‘dumb’ monitor we might have expected. So, as well as a Freeview HD tuner, it carries Hisense’s VIDAA smart system, which now incorporates the UK’s Freely streaming service alongside more expected streaming big hitters such as Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, YouTube and Apple TV+.

Freely allows you to live stream the majority of the channels carried on the Freeview HD platform, rather than having to receive them via a digital aerial, and it provides more than 10,000 hours of on-demand content from the libraries of the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5.

Gamers are predictably well catered for by Hisense’s new flagship TV. The three provided HDMI ports all support frame rates up to 165Hz, VRR (including the AMD Freesync Premium Pro format), HDR gaming (including a low-latency Dolby Vision mode), and ALLM switching when a game source is detected. Input lag at 60Hz is just 14.6ms when the TV’s in its game mode.

If you’re thinking it’s a bit strange that there are only three HDMI sockets on a £25K TV, Hisense provides a pretty good excuse in the shape of a USB-C style Display Port socket. These are very rare finds in the TV world, but some PC gamers will definitely appreciate having one on the 116UX.

We’ve already given away the fact that the 116UX’s HDR support includes the premium Dolby Vision format, but it also extends to the rival HDR10+ format which, like Dolby Vision, adds extra scene-by-scene picture information to the video stream.

The 116UX’s mammoth screen sports an Anti-Reflection filter to subdue the potentially dramatic impact that reflections could have on such a huge screen area, while a so-called ‘CineStage X Surround’ integrated sound system turns out to be a 6.2.2-channel ‘Opera de Paris’ affair designed with renowned premium French audio brand Devialet.

Picture

While one of the Hisense 116UX’s most eye-catching features doesn’t really pan out, there’s still no question whatsoever that it represents the front line of a whole new generation of TV picture quality.

But let’s start with that thing that didn’t play out as hoped: the claimed 8000 nits of brightness.

The thing is, the only way to get this peak brightness out of the 116UX is to select its Dynamic picture preset and then turn on an AI Brightness Boost feature. Taking these steps does indeed dial up the intensity of the 116UX’s small HDR highlights to unprecedented heights, but it also causes bright colours to blow out so much at times that they look almost radioactive, and clips shading detail out of the brightest image areas to an alarmingly aggressive degree.

In short, it’s pretty easy to see why Hisense itself doesn’t put the AI Brightness Booster on by default with any of the 116UX’s picture presets, even the Dynamic one.

Swiftly switching to the 116UX’s Standard picture preset and turning the AI Brightness Booster off sees peak brightness essentially halve. But the results are still among the brightest we’ve ever seen from a TV, and actually do a much better job of showing off the remarkable range and volume of colour the 116UX can reproduce.

We really are talking about uncharted colour territory here. Favourite 4K Blu-ray sequences we’ve watched a thousand times are delivered with levels of vibrancy we simply have never seen before, as the 116UX clearly pushes far beyond 100 per cent coverage of the DCI-P3 colour spectrum used for most HDR remastering.

Of course, an AV purist may well wonder what the point is of taking imaging capabilities as far beyond established mastering standards as the Hisense 116UX does. But the answer to this is that when such ‘expansion’ of native standards is done well, it just looks absolutely spectacular – in much the same way that a good HDR TV’s Standard picture setting can ‘boost’ SDR content.

And, in the 116UX’s case, the expansion of the HDR experience produced by RGB Mini LED technology working together with the Standard mode’s brightness delivers spectacle on a truly unprecedented scale. Colours in particular stretch to places we’ve never seen before.

Without the AI Brightness Booster on, the 116UX also does a good job of revealing decent levels of tonal subtlety and blend finesse amid all the extreme saturations and colour volumes. This helps pictures feel ‘lived in’, dense and authentic despite the astonishing colour intensity, and ensures that native 4K images, at least, don’t feel soft or blocky despite the immensity of the screen they’re playing out on.

Forcing ourselves to look past the 116UX’s brightness and colour exuberance also reveals mostly very good delivery of dark image areas. Images containing one or two really extreme light peaks against very dark backgrounds experience practically no reduction in the intensity of the bright bits, but also typically little to no backlight blooming creeping into the dark areas around the highlights.

While we imagine most 116UX owners will opt to stick with the Standard picture preset for most of the time to exploit their premium TV’s ground-breaking capabilities, home cinema fans will be pleased to note that the 116UX also carries a Filmmaker Mode which, to its credit, really hammers down the screen’s brightness and colour range to get close to the established video standards used to master pretty much every current film or TV show.

The Filmmaker Mode also introduces us to the first of a cluster of niggles with the 116UX, though. Some colour tones just don’t look quite right in either the SDR and HDR Filmmaker Modes. Deep greens sometimes look almost brown, for instance, while deep blues and reds don’t seem to fit in properly with the rest of the palette, looking more like video game creations than real-world captures.

Colours actually look more consistently believable, for all their exuberance, in the 116UX’s Standard mode, simply because the overall tonal presentation feels more balanced. There are certainly still moments in Standard mode, though, where a particularly vibrant hue – especially a rich, relatively pure red or green – can look exaggerated or noticeably off-key.

Also, while the 116UX’s local dimming system is generally excellent, dark scenes featuring either multiple extreme bright and dark areas or a few very faint areas of shadow detail can start to look noticeably misty.

This backlight clouding becomes even more obvious if you have to watch the 116UX from much of an angle, and while the anti-reflection filter Hisense has applied to its monster TV subdues the intensity of reflections on the screen, it doesn’t completely block them in the way the filters on some of today’s rival TVs do. And any reflection on a screen this big can prove more distracting than it would on a ‘regular-sized’ TV.

Finally in the negative column, while the 116UX’s HD/SD upscaling (which is clearly more important on a 116-inch TV than it is on, say, a 55-inch model) is pretty good at creating quite dense and sharp 4K images, it isn’t as able as we’d like at removing noise or excessive grain from low-resolution sources before applying its upscaling processes, with the result that such source noise tends to look a bit exaggerated and processed.

Sound

The 116UX’s multi-channel, Devialet-assisted sound system gets off to a great start by managing to create a soundstage that feels like it runs right across the width of the screen as well as beyond its top and side edges. There isn’t the sense of a soundless hole where the screen is that we’d feared we’d get with speakers only built around the screen’s edges.

Details both large and small are crystal clear and well placed in the TV’s huge wall of sound, while dialogue is compelling and clear as well as sounding locked to the screen where (usually) it’s supposed to be. High-pitched sounds don’t come across thin or harsh, and the speakers are powerful enough to take on fairly dense action scene moments without becoming constricted or muddy.

Surprisingly, given the presence of four fairly large "subwoofers" (Hisense's word) on the 116UX’s rear, though, Hisense’s TV hits its low frequency limit a little earlier down the frequency response range than we’d have liked, with its speakers succumbing to crackling and distortions a little too readily when pushed by the film world’s most extreme rumbles.

Perhaps connected with this, the soundstage can peter away a bit as particularly dense soundtrack moments grow to their crescendos, and in a perfect world, the sound would be propelled forward from the screen more; as it stands, the action seems to be taking place more behind the screen than around your viewing position.

Overall, though, the 116UX’s audio is still well above TV world par, and for the most part succeeds in creating a scale of sound that feels proportionate to the colossal images it’s producing.

Verdict

Hisense’s 116UX does a compelling job of introducing the game-changing potential of RGB Mini LED technology. Colours boldly go where no TV colours have gone before, accompanied and expanded by more brightness than we’ve ever seen on a non-prototype TV, too.

Some may question why we need images as extreme as those the 116UX can deliver when content creators are still operating in a much more conservative picture world, but Hisense’s set does a decent job of ‘upgrading’ today’s content to exploit what its screen can do. And anyway, there’s always the hope that the ‘if you build it, they will come’ principle might apply to content creators as well as Kevin Costner’s baseball idols.

It sometimes seems, though, as if Hisense is struggling to manage the full potential of the beast it’s created, with the occasional rogue colour tone or misty-looking dark scene creeping in to momentarily distract you from the mostly mind-bending spectacle. So while there’s no doubting the 116UX’s spectacle and the potential of Hisense’s RGB Mini LED technology, this debut model doesn't seem quite consistent enough for £24,999 to earn a totally unbridled recommendation.

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It's fair to say that the initial announcement of Dolby Vision 2 left more questions than answers.

The press release was long, with lots of fancy terms and feature names, but precious little detail, and that left lots of people – me included – feeling rather sceptical about it.

There's nothing quite like a bit of vagueness and, in particular, a few mentions of AI to bring out the cynic in a well-worn tech fan.

Having now had a lot of our initial Dolby Vision 2 questions answered, though – and in quite some detail – my scepticism has washed away and I'm now cautiously excited about the next-gen HDR-and-more format.

The crux of my change of opinion is that Dolby's answers indicate that Dolby Vision 2 is far from the post-processing (as in, on-TV processing) that I initially expected, and a proper mastering-studio-to-living-room technology that has the potential to massively improve the home cinema experience, led by filmmakers rather than TV manufacturers.

Actually, a lot of the AI appears to be aimed at the movie-production end of things, rather than the viewer. It seems to be there to help studio professionals identify opportunities to improve content in the editing suite, to more efficiently make those improvements, and, perhaps most interestingly, to determine how the content should be adapted to the capabilities of different displays.

That last point is where the new so-called ‘bi-directional tone mapping’ comes in.

Dolby Vision HDR has always been broadly tailored to each TV’s contrast and colour capabilities, but this feature means the content creators themselves can configure how their movies and TV shows (and games, for that matter) will look on TVs that are either less or more capable than their reference monitors.

But what interests me even more than that is Dolby Vision 2's Authentic Motion feature.

Again, this isn't on-TV motion processing, which is loved and hated in fairly equal measure, but a technology that allows movie creators to reduce judder and blur in the studio.

I have requested more information on this from Dolby, but it sounds very similar to TrueCut Motion, which has been used in several movies, most notably Avatar: The Way of Water.

These movies have a higher frame-rate than the industry-standard 24fps, usually 48fps, but before you have flashbacks to The Hobbit in HFR and start screaming about the soap opera effect, it's worth noting that for most of their running times, these movies have the look and feel of traditional 24fps video.

That extra frame rate is essentially there to provide the creator with the flexibility to smooth out motion only when required – through long panning shots, for example – while preserving the natural cinematic look with which we're all familiar for most of the movie.

The reason we need this is that the TVs most of us now have at home are brighter and more responsive than the cinema projectors for which the 24fps standard was created, and those aspects increase judder.

Content creators have been loath to adopt higher frame rates, partly because of the sense of unrealness it can add, but also because it's supported by very few cinema projectors and no home cinema sources, and those TVs that do support it essentially do so by accident.

TrueCut Motion has done a great job of proving that movies can be made smoother while still retaining their natural cinematic qualities; but Dolby's involvement has the potential to take it to the next level, driving adoption by studios, streaming services and TV manufacturers.

If Dolby Vision 2 achieves that, it will be transformative for home cinema.

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We've been on plenty of Adventures in AV at this point, but none of them have involved quite as much physical activity as my recent trip to Germany.

That's right, the European tech event of the year, IFA, is currently taking place in Berlin, and I spent the best part of Wednesday and Thursday darting from hall to hall in a change from my regular schedule of judging TVs from the comfort of our air-conditioned testing facility.

I spent my time checking out everything that the biggest names in AV had to offer, and with a premier TV technology making its European debut at the show, it's safe to say that it was quite an eventful show.

Samsung, Hisense, TCL and Sony all had something to show, whether that was a TV that was ready to hit the market, or one that was well into development.

Samsung and Hisense appear to be the furthest ahead, with the former offering a 115-inch "Micro RGB" model (you can find my thoughts on that TV here), and the latter launching a 116-inch model – meaning it snatches the title of "biggest RGB LED TV" by a whopping inch.

These two manufacturers are taking quite a similar approach, considering they're in direct competition. Big, bold and bright is the message they were sending, and their respective TVs certainly lived up to that.

TCL, on the other hand, had an RGB Mini LED TV on show, but it didn't really seem to make that much of a fuss about it. Instead, it was more focused on highlighting its current Mini LED range, which includes a trio of five-star TVs in the form of the C8K, C7K and C6K, and its 98-, 100-, and 115-inch TVs were once again in the spotlight.

Could this be a sign from TCL that it's willing to hold out on seeing where this technology goes before jumping in headfirst like Samsung and Hisense? I'm not quite sure yet, but it's still ahead of Sony, which is playing its cards even closer to its chest.

That's right, Sony made its grand IFA return this year; well, sort of. I was treated to a behind-closed-doors demonstration of how it plans to use the new panel technology in its upcoming Bravia TV lineup – though there's still plenty of mystery surrounding Sony's approach.

We don't know when it plans to launch a TV with this panel technology, and it's still finalising plenty of aspects regarding the picture performance. That being said, Sony's demonstration was probably the most useful, as it demonstrated the unnamed RGB LED-equipped Bravia prototype alongside the Bravia 9 Mini LED, as well as a QD-OLED and Primary RGB OLED TV for comparison.

Interestingly, every manufacturer is taking a different stance on the TV technology, but some common themes unite them, all of which seem to be positive attributes of the flashy new panel technology.

Colours have been turned up to 11

One of the most obvious benefits of the RGB LED display tech is how it brings colours to live with immense vibrancy and richness. Sony, Samsung and Hisense all displayed their respective sets next to or nearby TVs using more conventional panel technologies such as OLED and Mini LED.

In every instance, the new RGB LED-equipped models dazzled, with awe inspiring colour volume that, in comparison, made the OLEDs and Mini LEDs look quite dull. Now, most manufacturers had their display models set to their vibrant modes in order to really hammer this difference home, but it was evident either way.

Sony's prototype was captivating, with rich, luminous pinks, purples and blues in a clip from Disney's Frozen 2, while some other demo footage (also on the Sony set) of a blacksmith handling motel metal featured glowing hues of orange, red and yellow. The richness of these colours can't be understated, and I was surprised by how flat and uninteresting the Bravia 9 looked next to this TV.

Hisense also had some demo content to show off its RGB LED TV, though it mostly appeared to be abstract content with oodles of colour to show off the capability of the display tech. That being said, it looked great in person, with vibrant yellows and blues that were an immediate feast for the eyes.

Rounding things off with Samsung, I saw its 115-inch Micro RGB TV in all its glory at the show during a behind-closed-doors demo, and it too ticked a lot of boxes when it comes to punchy colours.

A segment from Disney's live action Aladdin remake really allowed this set to shine, with dedicant costumes in a wide array of colours all looking gloriously vivid on the new display. I did find the colours to punch a little too hard in a short clip from a nature documentary, which ironically made it look a lot less natural, but I understand that Samsung's intent was to show what this panel is capable of, and it did just that.

Blooming good backlight control

Backlit TVs have always been on the back foot to OLED when it comes to presenting bright subjects on dark backgrounds. That halo of light you see around the bright subject, or even on the black letterboxing bars in 21:9 content, is called blooming, and its often evident on even the most accomplished Mini LED TVs.

RGB LED, however, might have an answer for this, and it's a very clever on indeed. Now that these TVs don't have to rely on a white backlight, and instead have individual red, green and blue LEDs on hand which it can control with granular precision, we needn't worry about the ghostly white auras that have plagued backlit TVs up until now.

Blooming still occurs, but as described by Sony, the colour will now match the brighter subject on screen, which makes it look a lot more natural. I was shown a short clip of Marvel's Black Widow, which featured the eponymous hero is in a dark room with a red light source in the background.

Now, there was a well controlled red halo around that light, but it didn't bother me as in the real world, you'd see that same red glow around the light source anyway. This makes it all feel a lot more natural, and generally speaking its a very clever way of eliminating what can be quite a serious issue.

Samsung's Micro RGB TV was also supremely talented when it came to cutting back on blooming, as a film sequence involving two characters talking in a dark forest setting didn't exhibit any noticeable blooming; adding another level of immersion to the picture that I wasn't expecting to experience.

Black depths that might just rival OLED

Following on from my previous point, black depths haven't ever really been a strength of backlit TVs either, with letterboxing bars and sequences from films that involve lots of shadows often appearing as dark grey rather than true, deep black.

OLED has always been the king in this regard, and while significant improvements to Mini LED have been made in recent years, it's never been able to quite catch up. RGB LED, on the other hand, is where this changes.

Sony, TCL and Hisense all featured demo content that highlighted this, as these backlit TVs exhibited black depths that could give OLED run for its money. While I'll need to investigate further, ideally with an RGB LED and an OLED side-by-side, to see how comparable the two technologies are, this is by far the most impressive panel technology I've seen when it comes to rivalling OLED in this key area.

So, what's next?

RGB LED, or Micro RGB, or RGB Mini LED, whatever you want to call it, is about to hit the TV scene at full force, as this quartet of high-profile manufacturers has committed to incorporating it into their current and future lineups.

It's early days, and an exhausting 24 hours of seeing them back to back is certainly not the best way to form any concrete judgements, but the first signs are promising.

If you want to become an early adopter, then you'd best have plenty of room and some deep pockets, because these super-sized next-gen TVs won't come cheap. That being said, give it a year or two, and I think we could see this panel technology trickle down into the mainstream much like Mini LED and OLED did all those years ago.

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It’s the first Friday of September which, as well as a collective sigh of relief from parents as the sprogs head back at school, also means a fresh entry into our Pick of the Month column.

In it, our experts once again offer a succinct, easy-to-digest take on all the top hi-fi and home cinema products to earn five star ratings after passing through our viewing and listening rooms over the past month.

And while many of us may have been enjoying the summer sun, our testers missed any chance of a Vitamin D overdose, diligently reviewing more products than they care to count, in our controlled, windowless test rooms.

Thankfully, the effort was worth it, as they found 12 products worthy of a five-star recommendation.

TCL C8K / QM8K (65C8K)

Kicking off this month’s column is TCL’s capable new high-end Mini LED, the C8K.

We reviewed the 65-inch model and found it to be one of, if not the best Mini LED TVs we’ve reviewed in the upper end of the market – so much so that it broke Mini LED TV’s four star curse, being the first set to get full marks from our reviewers in close to a year.

Outside of a new, tuned by Bang and Olufsen sound system, one of the main upgrades is the use of TCL’s home-grown new ‘CrystGlow’ WHVA panels.

This aims to offer higher peak brightness levels, more dimming zones and holistically better contrast and light control – the final point being a key issue we had with the older TCL C855K from last year.

Putting it through its paces we found the work has paid off with the set delivering excellent brightness, great backlight control and impactful colours. Hence our glowing verdict:

“The C8K’s winning blend of extreme brightness, outstanding backlight control and aggressive pricing makes it one of TCL’s most exciting TVs yet.”

Score: 5/5

Read our full TCL C8K / QM8K (65C8K) review

Fyne Audio F502S

Fyne Audio has been on something of a winning streak recently with its F701SP standmounts and, by hi-fi standards, competitively priced F501E floorstanders earning five-star ratings earlier this year.

Last month the F502S continued its hot streak, impressing our reviewers enough to earn yet another five-star recommendation.

Featuring a robust, pleasingly premium design, the speakers are packed with custom hardware. These include everything from a custom mid/bass driver with the firm's IsoFlare point source tech to the brand’s ‘BassTrax’ diffuser system.

The first of those aims to widen the speakers’ sweet spot and improve stereo imaging, while the latter pushes to boost their low-end heft while simultaneously making them less fussy with positioning.

Paired with a price appropriate amp, in our case the Naim Nait XS 3, the speakers delivered a hugely entertaining, authoritative presentation, leading our reviewers to report:

“Blending superb sonic integration with class-leading authority and musicality, the F502S continue Fyne Audio’s hot streak in some style.”

Score: 5/5

Read our full Fyne Audio F502S review

Acoustic Energy AE300 Mk2

The Acoustic Energy AE300 Mk2 are the first standmount speakers in this month’s column. And after properly putting them through their paces, we can confirm their understated design is indicative of their general character, with the speakers proving to be an understated, slowburning hit with the team during testing.

The speakers borrow heavily from the firm’s more premium Corinium speakers, featuring a two-way design that pairs a 29mm fabric dome tweeter with a 12cm paper/coconut fibre mid/bass that crossover at 3.5kHz – giving them a middling 86dB/W/m sensitivity and a nominal 6-ohm impedance.

Running them against their main rivals, the five-star Bowers & Wilkins 606 S3, paired with a variety of price appropriate amps, we initially found them a little underwhelming, with one reviewer describing them as a competent but unremarkable performer.

But the more we listened to them, the more the team came to appreciate their understated, balanced performance, with every track we threw at them retaining solid levels of detail and retaining a nicely controlled bass. As we said in our review:

“They don’t try to bite off more than they can chew, and in the process deliver a superbly judged sound that works well across musical genres and with a wide range of electronics.”

Score: 5/5

Read our Acoustic Energy AE300 Mk2 review

Samsung S90F (QE48S90F)

The Samsung S90F is one of a recent wave of 48-inch OLED TVs to pass through our viewing rooms. And while, like all the 48-inch sets we’ve tested this year, it's not perfect, offering slightly overbaked colours in particular during certain test scenes, it is still a fantastic small OLED.

Featuring a pragmatic design that makes it easy to sensibly place a soundbar under it, punchy picture quality and an atypically generous four HDMI 2.1 inputs – which make it easy to connect and run multiple games consoles and a modern PC at full speed – there’s a lot to like about the set. Hence our glowing verdict:

“This is an excellent 48-inch OLED overall – one of the best we have tested, despite the slight colour exaggeration. For your money, you’ll get a bright, punchy, smallish OLED capable of delivering a fun home movie experience full of pop. Add to this flawless gaming specifications and excellent app support, and you get a TV that we are happy to recommend.”

Our only word of caution is to make sure you invest in a separate sound system as the speakers are particularly weedy – to the point our reviewers could comfortably converse without raising their voices, even when playing heated action movies with the volume set to 100.

Score: 5/5

Read our full Samsung S90F (QE48S90F) review

Vertere DG-X

Despite costing £4150 / $5400 / AU$8500, the Vertere DG-X is actually one of the more “affordable” options in the high end turntable maker's portfolio.

It’s particularly interesting as Vertere has taken an atypical approach designing it, choosing to come up with something entirely different, rather than try and scale down the awesome features and tech seen on its higher-end MG-1 or SG-1 models.

These include a completely redesigned tonearm with a flat design made of two bonded pieces of five-layered polymer.

The end result is a fantastic performer capable of offering a stable, but muscular sound with stellar rhythmic drive and dynamic expression when partnered with a price appropriate phono stage, amplifier and set of stereo speakers. As we said in our review:

“The Vertere DG-X remains a turntable that wants you to enjoy the music rather than analyse every element – but this is a terrific improvement over its predecessor in every way. With greater power, refinement and dynamism, the DG-X transports you into the music you’re listening to, no matter what the genre or recording era.”

Score: 5/5

Read our full Vertere DG-X review

Panasonic Z90B (TV-48Z90B)

The Panasonic Z90B is the second 48-inch step-down OLED TV featured in this month’s column.

A direct rival to the Samsung S90F further up this list, we found it to be a wonderfully capable small-ish OLED, but for very different reasons.

Where the Samsung pushes to deliver a wow factor with its picture, always rushing to show how bright and bombastic it can go, the Z90B focuses on offering a consistent, controlled performance.

This means some movie fans may find it a little dull, as it only ever pushes its peak brightness when the scene demands it, meaning it has less of an immediate “wow” factor. But for people who value balance and colour accuracy over razzmatazz, it’s the best 48-inch OLED money can buy right now, based on our testing.

We said as much in our review, where we reported: ”If you want a 48-inch OLED TV and value cinematic authenticity, the Panasonic Z90B is currently the one to get.”

Score: 5/5

Read our full Panasonic Z90B (TV-48Z90B) review

TCL C6KS (50C6KS-UK)

If any of the previous TVs on this list are a little too rich for your blood, then we have good news. Last week we found one of the first good, cheap TVs we’ve seen in months when we tested the £419, 50-inch TCL C6KS.

Despite its reasonable price, the TV comes with some solid hardware for the money, including a bright Mini LED panel, complete with comprehensive HDR support.

But, most importantly, as we ran through our standard suite of tests, it managed to deliver in one key area nearly all the other sets we’ve tested at this price recently haven’t – picture quality.

Whether it was the sparkling desert of Dune: Part 2, or the heated night-time battle scene we’ve come to favour for testing in Civil War, it delivered a solid picture with excellent brightness and contrast. As our reviewers reported:

“TCL’s latest ultra-affordable TV is even better than its specs suggest and fixes pretty much everything that was wrong with its predecessor. The price seems like it must be too good to be true – but it isn’t.”

Score: 5/5

Read our full TCL C6KS (50C6KS-UK) review

NAD C 3050 (with MDC2 BluOS-D module)

“Retro charm combined with a forward-looking nature,” that’s how our reviewers describe the NAD C 3050 (with MDC2 BluOS-D module).

And if that description sounds appealing, after thoroughly testing it in August, we can safely confirm it's an excellent option for any hi-fi fan looking for a new just-add-speakers system – even in the current market where it faces strong competition from the the Arcam A15 and Rega Elex Mk4.

Featuring a sleek retro design paired with all the modern hi-res streaming smarts BluOS brings to the table, plus a surprisingly decent moving magnet phono stage for vinyl fans, there's plenty to like at a technical level.

But, most importantly, it also sounds good when paired with price appropriate speakers, with it delivering a clear, spacious and expressive presentation during all our checks. As we said in our review:

“The attractive retro appearance may be the thing that draws people to the C 3050, but it’s the product's all round abilities as a streaming package that makes it such a strong buy. Highly recommended.”

Score: 5/5

Read our full NAD C 3050 (with MDC2 BluOS-D module) review

Panasonic Z95B (TV-65Z95B)

The Z95B is Panasonic’s current flagship OLED TV. That means it has a wealth of cutting edge hardware, including an Primary RGB Tandem OLED panel, similar in kind to the one sported on the LG G5.

And while we found it takes a bit more tweaking to get the best results than its step-down sibling, after you take the time to do so it offers amazing picture quality, especially if you value control and want an “as the director intended” experience. As we said in our review:

“The Panasonic Z95B proves that it can deliver the cinematic performance we expect, but it requires a bit of fiddling in the settings menu to get there. Once it’s dialled in, you can expect a rich, authentic and crisp picture, backed up by a solid feature set.”

The only minor downsides are that, despite offering 4K/144Hz gaming support, it only has two HDMI 2.1 inputs, one of which doubles as its eARC. Prepare for some serious cable swapping if you plan to connect multiple consoles to it.

Its sound system, which includes a giant soundbar bolted onto its bottom, is also “good” by TV speaker standards, but far from matching one of the units featured in our best Dolby Atmos soundbars guide.

Score: 5/5

Read our full Panasonic Z95B (TV-65Z95B) review

Neat Mystique Classic

Neat is gradually carving a strong reputation for delivering tiny, great sounding hi-fi speakers, and the Mystique Classic are a great example why, based on our testing in the last month.

The Mysticque Classic model is the middle child in the firm’s range, sitting below the Neat Elite towers, but above the Neat Petite we gave five stars to last year.

The tiny floorstanders look a little basic, featuring a charming but undeniably barebones wooden finish.

But, when we matched them with our reference Naim's Nait XS 3 integrated amp they proved to be anything but, delivering hugely entertaining performance full of agility and excellent low level dynamic reproduction. As we said in our review:

“Like their Petite standmount siblings, these small floorstanders have a given balance and a specific purpose, prioritising fun and entertainment at the expense of a more analytical or traditional “hi-fi” sound. If, for you, music is all about the experience, something that’s felt rather than analysed or admired, the Neat Mystique Classic must be on your shortlist.”

Score: 5/5

Read our full Neat Mystique Classic review

Pathos Inpol Remix MkII

If you looked at its specifications sheet alone, you may well quickly dismiss the Inpol Remix MkII as a valid option for your hi-fi set-up, with it only offering 25 watts per channel into 8 ohms of power output, despite costing £5495 / $5895 / AU$13,999.

But if you like your amp to come with a dash of sonic finesse and a refined midrange, you’d be remiss to do so. Though the eye-catching art deco-style amp is undeniably “characterful,” and requires careful partnering, it is a fantastic performer, based on our testing.

Match it with lively, expressive speakers, in our case the Fyne Audio F1-8 or the ProAc D2R and it will deliver a wonderfully charming performance with exceptional levels of clarity and balance. Hence our five-star rating and verdict:

“There is no denying that this Pathos is something of a left-field choice. It needs pampering, particularly in terms of partnering speakers, if you want to get the best from it. Put in the work, and it offers a blend of strengths unlike most rivals at this level. “If you want to hear a good example of a valve/transistor hybrid amplifier, this is as fine an option as we have heard at this level. Highly recommended.”

Score: 5/5

Read our full Pathos Inpol Remix MkII review

Ruark MR1 Mk3

For close to a decade, Ruark’s MR1 line of dinky speakers has been our recommended small, or desktop option, for hi-fi fans. And with the third generation MR1s having passed through our listening rooms, it looks like that legacy may well continue.

Despite looking a lot like the outgoing Ruark MR1 Mk2, the Mk3 comes with a few key upgrades. These include new audio inputs, the use of a bigger driver and completely new amplification technology.

The end result is a wonderfully flexible, small, powered Bluetooth speaker capable of delivering a powerful, punchy and dynamic sound. Hence our reviewers’ five-star rating and verdict:

"The fact that Ruark has been able to fit in so many upgrades and new inputs into the MR1 Mk3 without changing its compact, desktop form and increasing the price too much is impressive. The powerful, punchier and bigger sound evolves the concept further, although we'd like just a touch more finesse in the bass.”

Score: 5/5

Read our full Ruark MR1 Mk3 review

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This week Dolby dropped a big bombshell for home cinema fans when it unexpectedly launched the second version of its Dolby Vision HDR standard.

And yes, we get that not all of us get butterflies in our stomach talking about high dynamic range tech, but for cinephiles and movie fans, this is a huge deal for two key reasons.

First, Dolby Vision is something of a darling among movie fans and filmmakers as well as streaming services / distributors. Netflix, Disney+, Apple TV+ and more all use it to offer subscribers a better, more dynamic experience when playing compatible content.

So much so that many TVs, especially in the upper end of the OLED market, have specialist Bright and Dark Dolby Vision picture modes, tailored to make the most of the standard. So it’s a pretty big deal that will impact picture quality, even if you don’t know your TV is using it.

Second, because Dolby is making some pretty bold claims about Vision 2’s performance improvements. These include claims about fixing the black crush issue we sometimes experience running Dolby Vision content while testing home cinema hardware, as well as improved motion processing and tone mapping.

These are all key things that, if done well, should make for a truly great home cinema experience when paired with hardware capable of doing justice to the source – at least based on our positive experience watching “good” Dolby Vision content on current sets, such as the five-star Sony Bravia 8 II featured in our best OLED TV guide.

But, there was one big fly in the ointment. Specifically, Dolby and many TV manufacturers are being very coy when it comes to giving any specifics on how Dolby Vision 2 works, what the actual improvements are and which TVs will be able to run it.

Which is why we pulled out our Rolodex and called every Dolby contact we could, eager to get answers straight from the horse’s mouth.

Here’s what they told us.

How is it Dolby Vision 2 different from Dolby Vision?

The first big question we had is how the standard is better at a technical level than its predecessor. These included questions about if it has a higher peak brightness – which would be mad, as Dolby Vision already caps at 10,000 nits, which is way higher than normal TV can go, outside of a few very targeted exceptions – or if and how it will impact things such as colour volume and black detail.

On this topic, Dolby flagged a new suite of tools and technologies designed to help creatives and home cinema hardware companies deliver a more “authentic” experience as the new standard’s key “upgrades”, telling us:

“The core containers of the Dolby Vision signal, such as maximum luminance or bit depth, have not fundamentally changed. What has changed with Dolby Vision 2 is a new set of tools for creators to better bridge the grading suite to the living room, and a new set of high-performance features on the TV to deliver a more authentic and captivating image.”

Dolby listed delivering a more accurate “as the director intended” experience, where the picture is as close as possible to that which left the film studio’s editing room, at a source level, as the main goal of the tech.

“Dolby Vision 2 is not an AI TV post-processing feature. Dolby Vision 2 is an evolution of the Dolby Vision ecosystem that leverages new improvements in content creation, encoding, TV software, and TV hardware,” Dolby said.

“We are building new creative tools that will use in-house AI image analysis to assist creatives in utilising this capability efficiently in the colour grading suite, as well as performing image analysis in the Dolby Vision delivery pipeline (which is a tool available to services) to guide the Dolby Image Engine to eliminate artifacts when that signal hits your living room,” it said.

It added that the focus on giving creators tools to fine-tune their work makes it fundamentally different to the post-production “AI” picture modes appearing on many modern TVs, as its goal is to deliver the source accurately, not trying to “improve” it with after-the-fact processing.

“The use of image analysis has allowed us to expand the capabilities of Dolby Vision to maximise the capabilities of both mainstream and high-performing panels, all while preserving creative intent. It should be noted that our use of image analysis in both creative tools and the distribution pipeline is vastly different to ‘AI picture modes’ or other single-ended TV post-processing solutions, which work in a vacuum without an understanding of creative intent,” it stated.

In keeping with this, Dolby revealed there will even be a new "reference mode" for “enthusiasts”.

“One final point, Dolby Vision 2 includes both a mode that best utilizes the entire technology stack to deliver pictures that are spellbinding and authentic and fully adapted to the TV’s capability and environment, in addition to a reference mode for enthusiasts with well-controlled environments, as well as offering them new device calibration features,” they said.

How exactly the reference mode works remains unclear, but it sounds very similar to the standard Filmmaker Mode that is an increasingly common sight on most TVs, which aims to turn off all superfluous background processing, in a bid to offer a more authentic picture.

Of course, the difference between this Dolby Vision 2 reference mode and a typical Filmmaker Mode is that it will still take advantage of Dolby Vision's dynamic metadata, as well as any of the new Dolby Vision 2 processing added in the mastering suite.

What it will presumably remove from the full Dolby Vision 2 implementation is the on-TV processing, such as the adaptation to ambient lighting conditions.

Will it work on any existing TVs?

When asked if the tech will work on any existing TVs, Dolby told us that any current Dolby Vision-capable set will be able to play Vision 2 content – it just won’t benefit from the Dolby Vision 2 upgrades. It sounds as if it will simply perform as standard Dolby Vision does currently.

“It’s also important to note that content that makes use of these capabilities [is] backwards compatible with existing TVs in [the] market – these TVs simply ignore the new metadata sent with the signal,” Dolby said.

This, coupled with the answer we got from Philips earlier this week, indicates the new standard will require specific panel technology and chipsets to work.

We don’t have all the details yet, but a mysterious, unnamed Hisense set is confirmed to be the first to come with Dolby Vision 2.

During the launch, Dolby was very specific in highlighting that it has a next-generation RGB Mini LED panel and custom MediaTek Pentonic 800 with “MiraVision Pro” PQ Engine chip that has been built for Dolby Vision 2.

Sadly, when we pressed for more details, Dolby was fairly vague on specific hardware requirements and when the new sets will appear, telling us:

“Today, our focus is on unveiling this latest innovation and ecosystem to the industry. Timing and availability of new TVs will come at a later date from our TV partners.”

What’s the difference between Dolby Vision 2 and Dolby Vision 2 Max?

The next big question we had is regarding what the new “Max” tier is, and how it will be different to the base Dolby Vision 2 standard.

Here, Dolby was clear, describing it as the ultimate experience, and clarifying that it will need certified “Max ready" displays and hardware to work, but adding that it is not tied to paywalls.

“Dolby Vision 2 Max vs Dolby Vision 2 are the branding tiers consumers would see on the televisions and signify what features are supported. This has nothing to do with your streaming service tier,” it said.

“Dolby Vision 2 and Dolby Vision 2 Max feature new metadata [that] creatives and services can now add to their content that unlocks these new capabilities. This new metadata is embedded in the content (not gated by your subscription) and would play back on TVs capable of decoding this new metadata (i.e. a Dolby Vision 2 capable display).”

Dolby also confirmed many of the more interesting new technologies mentioned at launch will be specific to the Max tier.

“The best way to think about the two tiers is that Dolby Vision 2 Max includes capabilities designed to unlock the full capabilities and best picture quality on the highest performing TVs. This includes capabilities such as bi-directional tone mapping, Authentic Motion, Light Sense, and more advanced tools tailored for enthusiasts,” they said.

“What we are really excited about is that Dolby Vision 2 brings a dramatically improved picture to mainstream TVs, delivering on the core capabilities that are the backbone of this new innovation (like Content Intelligence and the new Dolby Imagine Engine).”

Off the back of this, our next set of questions focused on the new “Max” features and technologies, and how they work.

How is Light Sense different from Dolby Vision IQ?

One of the first of these new technologies is Light Sense, which aims to optimise picture quality based on the viewing area’s ambient lighting conditions.

At first glance, this sounds very similar to Dolby’s existing Vision IQ tech. Dolby clarified the tech isn’t “new” but instead is a consolidation and evolution of IQ’s existing capabilities into Dolby Vision 2, telling us:

“We are reimagining and improving features like Light Sense, which was always a part of Dolby Vision IQ, and these new Light Sense capabilities will be part of Dolby Vision 2 Max. Over time, Dolby Vision 2 will replace Dolby Vision and Dolby Vision IQ as partners migrate to this new platform," Dolby said.

How does bi-directional tone mapping work?

Bi-directional tone mapping is a bigger change to Dolby’s HDR platform, which the movie-tech powerhouse claims is a significant improvement on Vision’s existing powers.

“Traditionally [tone mapping] meant taking an image from a brighter reference display and rendering it to a display with lower luminance and colour volume. That’s tone mapping. For the first time, Dolby Vision 2 will allow content creators to define how content is tone mapped to displays with capabilities that are either below or above the capabilities of the reference monitor,” Dolby explained.

“That’s bi-directional tone mapping. Think of this as an improved and more intelligent ‘Bright Mode’ that works in conjunction with all the features of Content Intelligence to deliver the most spellbinding and authentic image experience based on the content and your device.”

What is Authentic Motion?

Authentic Motion is the final key feature that caught our attention during Dolby Vision 2’s launch, with our TV and AV editor, Tom Parsons, pointing out it looks very similar to the TrueCut Motion tech used in a number of modern films, including Nobody 2, Kung Fu Panda 4 and Jurassic World Rebirth.

TrueCut works to give filmmakers more granular control of framerates. This includes the ability to raise the framerate above 24fps – which nearly all films are shot at – to make panning and fast paced action shots look smoother, or more natural, without impacting the film’s “traditional” cinematic feel, or unintentionally adding the dreaded soap opera effect.

From what Dolby has told us, Tom was on the money as Authentic Motion sounds very similar.

“What’s exciting about Authentic Motion is that it’s part of our broader effort to expand Dolby Vision beyond the benefits of just HDR and we are solving the challenges of unwanted judder that can occur on certain shots of 24-frame content, such as pans with bright backgrounds – especially as TVs are increasingly bigger and brighter,” Dolby explained.

“This new feature leverages Content Intelligence to help the creator identify potential trouble areas in a scene and then allow them to adjust a specific amount of de-judder for those shots or scenes only that they feel best matches the look of what they are trying to convey. It is driven by artist intent and can/will only be used on the shots they feel really need it and only at the amount they believe is needed, striking the perfect balance for the creatives and the viewers.”

Are you excited about Dolby Vision 2? Or are you concerned you’ve just bought an expensive TV that won’t get it? Or, do you not give a monkey's about the new tech? Let us know in the comments below, or on our social media pages.

Also, feel free to drop any follow-up questions you have in the same place, and we’ll get back to Dolby and try and get them answers (no swears please).

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UPDATE:

We have now heard from our TCL contact, but they were unfortunately not able to give us any additional information on the TV Robyn saw at IFA, or TCL's Dolby Vision 2 plans.

That might change after the TCL press event, which is about to take place.

For now, I think the only conclusion that can be safely drawn is that TCL will at some point launch Dolby Vision 2 TVs.

Whether the specific TV on TCL's IFA stand is a current model, a prototype, or simply a kind of placeholder is still a mystery.

More as we get it, and you can read the original story below.

IFA 2025 is just kicking off, and our roving reporter, Robyn Quick, is on the ground, hunting down (among other things) anything Dolby Vision 2-related.

And we've just had our first hit, because on TCL's stand is a 98-inch TV, mounted to a wall and surrounded by logos, including a very bold one for 'Dolby Vision 2.0'. You can see this in the photo above.

Robyn is struggling to get much in the way of additional info on the TV – TCL's own stand staff seem curiously unsure about it – but one member of staff did tell her that it's a C8K.

Given the slight uncertainty of the TCL staff on the ground, we're beavering away to try to get official confirmation and more details, but this would be pretty huge news if it turned out to be true.

Firstly, the only manufacturer confirmed in Dolby's press release as supporting Dolby Vision 2 was Hisense.

It's not at all surprising that other manufacturers will also be supporting it, but it's good to get apparent confirmation of TCL's involvement so early.

Much more interesting, though, is that the TCL C8K is a current, 2025 TV (here's our TCL C8K review). And it's a Quantum Dot Mini LED model at that.

The reason this is so interesting is that the steer we got from Philips yesterday was that new, 2026 hardware would probably be required to get Dolby Vision 2 support.

If the TV Robyn saw is indeed a C8K, it would suggest that this isn't necessarily the case, and that some existing TVs may get Dolby Vision 2 support, presumably through a software update.

Dolby's press release also made several mentions of RGB Mini LED, suggesting that Dolby Vision 2's upgrades are primarily aimed at TVs using this as-yet-unavailable, next-gen panel tech.

While that may still be true, TCL is certainly suggesting with this TV on its IFA stand that current Mini LED tech can also benefit from Dolby Vision 2.

As you can tell, we still have lots of questions, firstly regarding this specific TCL TV (including whether it really is the C8K), but also about Dolby Vision 2 in general.

What Hi-Fi? Editor-in-Chief Alastair Stevenson is currently working up a story based on some answers we've received from Dolby overnight. That will be live on the site shortly.

And I will update this story with answers from TCL once I've received them.

MORE:

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Editor's Note 04/09/25: We've since had a lot of these questions answered by Dolby. You can read our full interview here.

Surprise! Dolby Vision 2 is here! That’s essentially a summary of the What Hi-Fi? home cinema team’s morning, and an accurate description of how the second generation of one of the world's most popular HDR standards was unveiled.

For those who missed it, there is plenty to get excited about. Dolby is promising all-round upgrades that will improve everything from dark detail, thanks to its new Precision Black feature, to motion control, thanks to its new Authentic Motion feature.

If even a fraction of these promises ring true when we get our hands on content mastered to the standard and can watch it on a compatible TV, Dolby Vision 2 could be a huge deal for home cinema enthusiasts as well as movie fans in general.

Going through the press release and details Dolby has released thus far, however, TV and AV editor Tom Parsons and I were left with a few key questions…

1. Which TVs will support Dolby Vision 2?

The first and most basic question we have is which TVs are getting it? In the release, the only information we’ve been given is that Hisense is the launch partner for the standard. But even then, we haven’t been given specific models.

All we have been told is that the new sets will feature the next-generation RGB-MiniLED panel tech we first saw at CES 2025, and will be powered by a custom MediaTek Pentonic 800 with “MiraVision Pro” PQ Engine chipset – the purported first to integrate Dolby Vision 2. Sadly, even for these sets, even a vague indication of price and availability has not been given.

2. Is Dolby Vision 2 backwards compatible?

This leads to our second question: can any existing TVs be upgraded to support it, or is it going to be available only on next-generation sets with new chipsets optimised for Dolby Vision 2?

The short release indicates Dolby Vision 2 will require upgraded hardware to run, which would probably be an annoyance for any buyer who just spent thousands on a flagship OLED such as the five-star Sony Bravia 8 II, LG G5 and Panasonic Z95B.

It would be pretty annoying if these sets were already out of date, considering how mainstream the first-generation Dolby Vision standard is. The HDR format is seen with various 4K content on common streaming platforms, including Netflix, Apple TV Plus and Disney+.

We have asked Dolby for clarification on this point and reached out to TV manufacturers to confirm their plans for Dolby Vision 2.

3. How does Dolby Vision 2 actually work?

Dolby has also been fairly quiet about how the new technology actually works, and what specific performance improvements it will bring outside of very broad strokes.

For example, all we know about its new Precision Black feature is that it is designed to ensure greater clarity and ensure images don’t look too dark when watching Dolby Vision content.

But there is no technical detail on how it actually does this, outside a vague “better AI and processing” via new Content Intelligence and Next-Gen Dolby Image Engine toolkits – for which technical information is lacking.

The same is true about its new Light Sense feature, which promises to optimise compatible TVs' performance based on viewing conditions. Sound familiar? It should: Dolby Vision IQ has a similar goal. Again, Dolby promises improvements on this via Dolby Vision 2 but hasn’t revealed how they are being made.

4. What’s the difference between Dolby Vision 2 and Dolby Vision Max?

A further complication is that there are two new “tiers” of Dolby Vision: Dolby Vision 2 and Dolby Vision Max.

The only clarifying information Dolby has given is that Max “delivers the best picture on the highest performing TVs” and will have “additional premium features”.

We have reached out to Dolby for answers on all of the above and will update our coverage the moment we hear back.

In the meantime, make sure to get in touch on our social media pages, the comments section of this article, or directly using our shared whathifi@futurenet.com email address with any questions you have about Dolby Vision 2.

We’ll do our absolute best to get them answered!

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We're in September now, which means two things: a long summer has given way to rainy autumn, and our annual What Hi-Fi? Awards season is in full swing.

Our AV and hi-fi test rooms are stacked with brand new products across a wide range of categories, from flagship TVs and various-sized projectors, to new stereo speakers and turntables – and much more.

It's an exciting time for our reviewers, and while we can't list every single submission we have in here (that would take days to write and read – it's a huge list!), we have cherry-picked the biggest products that we are putting to the test imminently.

These include new stereo speakers from Monitor Audio and Dali, a Dolby Atmos soundbar system from Yamaha, a massive (yet affordable) 98-inch TCL telly, and a mid-range stereo amplifier from Musical Fidelity.

As ever, if you have any questions about the products we're testing, drop us a comment below or email us at whathifi@futurenet.com, and we'll do our best to find the answer during our review process and get back to you.

Musical Fidelity B1xi

The stereo amplifier category hasn't exactly been overflowing with new contenders in recent years. We have, therefore, been itching to get Musical Fidelity's new mid-range B1xi integrated into our test rooms ever since it was first teased at the start of the year.

It costs £699 / $879 / €799, meaning it goes up against terrific rivals such as the five-star Rega Brio Mk7 (also new this year) and the Award-winning Arcam A5 – so it should prove to be an exciting comparison. The B1xi sports Class A/B amplification and 60 watts per channel, (into 8 ohms) and has a nice array of analogue and digital inputs.

The internal DAC supports up to 24-bit/192kHz files, there's a moving-magnet phono stage, it has Bluetooth 5.1 for easy streaming, and an HDMI ARC input. That's plenty of features to please any hi-fi fan, especially at this price.

We can't wait to find out how it sounds.

Monitor Audio Bronze 50 7G

Monitor Audio's entry-level Bronze speakers have a storied history with us, with the older Bronze 2 winning multiple Awards and being our go-to recommendation for budget speakers for many years.

While the last Bronze 100 speaker didn't go down quite so well with our reviewers, we are hoping Monitor Audio is back to form with the new Bronze 50 7G. The brand has looked back to all generations of Bronze speakers to identify their core DNA and strengths and has refined every element to deliver a high-fidelity entry point to its signature sound. They are the only bookshelf models in the latest seventh-generation Bronze series, and cost a competitive £500 / €600 / $700 per pair.

The two-way speaker features a 25mm Ceramic-Coated Aluminium Magnesium (C-CAM) gold-dome tweeter and a 15cm C-CAM mid/bass driver, while the cabinet has been reinforced to reduce unwanted driver resonance and improve structural integrity. It is available in three finishes, with a combination of real wood and plywood front baffles for an elevated look.

At this price, the Bronze 50 7G speakers sit between two Award-winning Bowers & Wilkins speakers, and also slightly undercut the new five-star Acoustic Energy AE300 Mk2.

Dali Kupid

Dali has been focusing on high-end fare in the past few years (its flagship Kore speakers and premium IO-8 wireless cans, for example), so it was quite a surprise when the eye-catching and affordable Dali Kupid bookshelf speakers were revealed.

Just a single pair of speakers has been launched, not a series, but it has already made an impact in our test rooms. The Kupid are small, cost just £299 per pair and come in a variety of appealing and colourful shades such as bright golden yellow and chilly blue (our review pair, see above), along with white, black, and walnut.

The Kupid speakers feature a 26mm soft-dome tweeter and Dali's proprietary paper and wood-fibre mid/bass driver. They are designed around a philosophy of “keep it simple”, while also promising “hi-fi” quality sound when paired with budget amplifiers and modern streaming amps such as the compact WiiM Amp Pro and Amp Ultra.

The aim here is to make hi-fi more accessible, and the budget price point and friendly design of these Dali Kupid speakers certainly have our attention. Let's hope they live up to their positive first impressions.

Yamaha True X Surround 90A

Yamaha's new True X Surround 90A Dolby Atmos sound system consists of a soundbar, subwoofer and two wireless surrounds – a considerable evolution from the single-bar design of its previous efforts.

It takes inspiration from the brand's very first soundbar, the groundbreaking YSP-1 from 2005, with two arrays of upward-firing beam speakers at either end of the soundbar. Each cluster includes six drivers, which are modernised versions of the drive units found in the original YSP-1.

The new soundbar system doesn't come cheap – it is priced at a very premium £2500, meaning it will have to square up against some big-name soundbars and systems, which include the five-star KEF XIO, Samsung HW-Q990F and Sonos Arc Ultra rivals.

Our AV senior staff writer, Lewis Empson, went to Yamaha's HQ in Japan for an early preview of this new soundbar system, so check out his first impressions here: Yamaha True X Surround 90A hands-on review.

TCL 98C7K

If you think a gigantic, affordable image can be achieved only by a projector, think again. We have TCL's 98-inch C7K Mini LED TV in for testing, and our TV/AV Editor Tom Parsons is already convinced that it could spell trouble for the projector market.

Without giving too much away before the official review, he says this giant-screen TV is so good and represents such a good value, that it could be a genuine alternative to many projector brands’ current offerings.

The 98-inch TCL telly features 2000 dimming zones, Quantum Dot colours and a claimed peak brightness of 3000 nits. It's a bright, punchy picture, and while it can't achieve the depths of darkness and control you get from an OLED TV, consider that an equivalent OLED TV at this sort of size will cost upwards of £20,000.

This 98-inch TCL TV, meanwhile, costs just £2400. That's not a typo.

Philips OLED810 and OLED910

We have two key models from Philips's 2025 OLED TV range in our test rooms right now. The first one is the 77-inch OLED810, which is billed as the brand's “core” model and is designed to rival the LG C5 and Sony Bravia 8 – both of which have received five-star verdicts from us this year.

The OLED810 promises 1500 nits of peak brightness, an integrated 70W 2.1 sound system and three-sided Ambilight technology.

Meanwhile, the step-up 65-inch OLED910 features the same Primary RGB Tandem OLED technology as the flagship LG G5 and Panasonic Z95B models, and it will also square up against the Samsung S95F and Sony Bravia II – so it has sterling rivals to compete against.

The OLED910 is claimed to offer 3700 nits peak brightness, while offering a more immersive four-sided Ambilight. Its sound system is also a step up – it's a 3.1 system courtesy of Bowers & Wilkins.

Check out our Philips OLED910 hands-on review.

WiiM Amp Ultra

WiiM keeps going from strength to strength. Its compact music streamers have impressed us with their easy-to-use, versatile features and enjoyable sound at previously unheard-of budget prices. Its streaming amplifiers have been more of a mixed bag: the first WiiM Amp received three stars from us, while the step-up WiiM Amp Pro delivered a more enjoyable sound and gained four stars. If it continues this upward momentum, it could prove to be very good news for the range-topping WiiM Amp Ultra.

It has the popular network streaming features, an HDMI input, is capable of playing up to 32-bit/384kHz PCM and DSD512 files, and boasts a more powerful 100 watts per channel (into 8 ohms) amplification. To top it all off, it features the lovely touchscreen display we liked so much in the WiiM Ultra streamer.

Costing just £499 / $529, the Amp Ultra is still one of the most affordable streaming amp systems we have come across.

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We tend to get rather excited when Panasonic OLED TVs land in our testing room, as they have a penchant for delivering striking cinematic images that pride themselves on being close to the original artist’s intent.

If you weren’t already aware – Panasonic may have mentioned this once or twice in the last few years – these are the TVs that large numbers of directors, editors and colourists favour in Hollywood studios, so expectations are often quite high.

We have here the latest model in Panasonic’s revered Z95-series (previously known as the Z2000 series), so can the Z95B carry forth what made its predecessors, namely the Z95A and MZ2000, so special?

It’s certainly got the ingredients, including the latest Primary RGB Tandem OLED panel technology, but can it steal the spotlight from the likes of the dazzling Sony Bravia 8 II or showstopping LG G5?

Price

We have the 65-inch model before us today, which is officially priced at £2999 / $3400, putting it squarely in the flagship category. It’s not available in Australia, unfortunately, but currency conversion (at the time of writing) suggests that it would cost roughly AU$6145.

It’s also available in 55-inch and 77-inch screen sizes, which are priced at £2500 / $2600 and £4000 / $4500 respectively.

There is some good news, however, as prices appear to already be dropping. You can currently find the 65-inch model for closer to £2800 / $3100 if you shop around.

Compared to its rivals, the Panasonic is priced surprisingly competitively; so much so that it launched at a lower price than the LG G5 (£3299 / $3400 / AU$5299) and Samsung S95F (£3399 / $3299 / AU$5299). However, both of these TVs have also been discounted since launch, which means they’re more in line with the Panasonic.

The Sony Bravia 8 II launched for less than the Panasonic in the UK, but more in the US (£2999 / $4000 / AU$5295); though that too can now be found for closer to £2699 / $3000.

Build

Unlike many of its peers in the OLED TV world, Panasonic has opted to redesign its latest flagship TV, and it’s done a rather good job of doing so. The Z95B looks and feels smarter, more premium, and generally more stylish.

It’s covered in a tasteful acoustic cloth that spans the length of the front-facing speaker bar, and it runs up the edges of the set and along the top, too, in order to cover the side-firing and upward-firing drive units.

Furthermore, the set trades the super thin portions interrupted by bulky box-out sections as seen on the Z95A for a more uniform width throughout. This means that when viewed side on, the Z95B looks thicker, but we think it looks better for it and overall a bit less awkward.

And this redesign does more than just allow for a sleeker new look; it has a practical benefit too.

Panasonic has implemented a new cooling system, which it dubs ThermalFlow. This allows air to flow out of the top and bottom of the set for more efficient temperature regulation.

Panasonic claims that this new thermal management system allows it to push the panel harder, resulting in higher peak brightness.

Despite the redesign, Panasonic has thankfully opted to incorporate one of the best features of the Z95A; its swivel stand. The TV sits atop a circular pedestal stand that can rotate to allow you to view the TV at a comfortable angle, even if your sofa is not directly parallel to the TV.

There is, however, one aspect of the Z95A that we wish didn’t return, that being the remote. It does have positive aspects, such as the high-quality metallic finish and the most satisfyingly clicky buttons of any TV we’ve tested this year, but we’re sorely missing backlit buttons.

It’s worth noting that, unlike Sony and Samsung, Panasonic opts to only include one button-heavy remote in the box rather than pairing it with a trimmed-down secondary remote.

Features

As you’d hope at this price, Panasonic has crammed a laundry list of features into this flagship OLED TV. It features the latest generation META OLED panel, with LG Display’s Primary RGB Tandem OLED display structure at its heart.

This panel promises significantly higher brightness than the outgoing Micro Lens Array panel (notably featured on last year’s Panasonic Z95A), and it achieves it through stacking four OLED layers – one red, one green, and two blue.

This also has the benefit of increasing colour volume, which is important as we did notice that a handful of the MLA OLED TVs sometimes looked a touch washed out in higher brightness scenes.

The Z95B also has a trick up its sleeve when it comes to HDR support. Unlike LG and Sony, which (aside from the standard HDR10 and HLG formats) are staunchly in the Dolby Vision camp, or Samsung, which has a strict HDR10+ only approach, Panasonic supports both of the competing dynamic HDR formats as well as the HDR10 and HLG static formats.

This is also a 144Hz panel, which should appeal to console and PC gamers. Those who play on the PS5 or Xbox Series X can take advantage of refresh rates up to 120Hz, while those with capable gaming PC rigs can enjoy the full 144Hz.

It’s worth noting here that Panasonic is lagging slightly behind the LG G5 and Samsung S95F, both of which support up to 165Hz signals, but that’s by no means a dealbreaker for the Z95B – very few people will even be able to take advantage of 144Hz support.

Unfortunately, gamers are limited to just two HDMI 2.1 sockets, with one of them doubling up as the HDMI eARC connector. Therefore, if you have more than one current-generation console and a soundbar that doesn’t feature HDMI 2.1 passthrough, then you’ll have a tough conundrum on your hands.

There may well be a solution to this conundrum, however. Panasonic is banking on you not needing to plug an external sound device into the Z95B, as it expects you to stick with the substantial built-in Dolby Atmos sound system, which has been tuned by its premium hi-fi division, Technics.

The TV features a front-firing speaker array housed in the soundbar section below the screen, alongside a side-firing speaker on each side of the television and dual upward-firing drivers. These are supported by a dedicated subwoofer (driven by a 30-watt amplifier) with dual passive radiators.

In total, this TV boasts a sound system with a claimed maximum power output of 170W – punchy indeed. Better yet, Panasonic has implemented its 360-degree Soundscape Pro system into this TV in order to create a more convincing surround-sound experience.

Running the show is Panasonic’s HCX Pro AI Processor MKII, which predictably leverages the power of artificial intelligence. It uses AI-backed picture processing to power its 4K Remaster picture engine, which sharpens lower resolution content (especially over streaming) to make it shine on the advanced OLED panel.

Panasonic has also implemented a new Amazon Prime Video calibrated mode, which accepts data from an Amazon server when streaming from its platform in order to adjust the picture settings to best suit the content. It’s worth noting that this is an optional setting, and Panasonic isn’t the first to implement this, as Sony introduced it on its 2024 range.

This new Amazon-focused feature does, however, hint at the ever-stronger partnership between the Japanese AV brand and the e-commerce titan, which is backed up by the inclusion of the Fire TV streaming platform.

This handles all of the built-in streaming and gaming apps, and while we’re not the biggest fan of its looks, we can’t argue with its comprehensive app offering. There are no noticeable gaps here in terms of international or domestic apps, and the Panasonic Z95B gets bonus points for having Freely integration.

We also quite like the tweaks that Panasonic has made to the system, such as the easy-to-access picture settings menu that makes on-the-fly adjustments quick and simple.

Returning to the remote that we griped about earlier, we do rather like the picture mode shortcut button, which can be found at the top of the handset; other TV manufacturers should take note.

Picture

This is where things get serious. The Z95B is up against some seriously tough rivals in what has been a particularly spectacular year for OLED TVs.

We are comparing it against our current “best premium” choice in our best OLED TV list – the Sony Bravia 8 II. This Sony TV uses the competing QD-OLED panel technology from Samsung Display, so we expect to see some differences; however, Panasonic has its work cut out regardless.

We’ve hooked up our trusty Oppo UDP-203 4K Blu-ray player (which is sadly no longer on sale) and raided our shelf of reference 4K discs and digital library, selecting titles including Civil War, Alien Romulus, Blade Runner 2049, Top Gun: Maverick and, as this is a TV that touts major brightness boosts, the abysmal (but very bright) Pan.

We use our usual Filmmaker Mode shortcut, which is often our first stop in getting any TV to look roughly the way we want it to.

Starting with the climactic siege of Washington, D.C. from the final act of Civil War, the Panasonic looks impressively comparable to the Sony. At first glance, both seem to handle the darker sections of the sequence well, with good low-light colour volume and a rich, three-dimensional quality to the picture.

However, the further we test the Z95B in Filmmaker Mode, the more we realise that the TV isn’t operating to its full potential. It seems a little bit soft and is lacking the punch and brightness we presumed we would see based on our experience of testing the LG G5.

This is most evident in Pan. It just doesn’t have the same impact as when watched on the Sony, which pushes its QD-OLED panel harder to deliver stunning brightness and vivid colours.

Turning up the brightness on the Z95B does rectify this issue somewhat by adding a bit more zing to a picture that’s in danger of being described as a bit dull; however, this can result in some brightness clipping that diminishes details.

The Sony, on the other hand, finds a nice balance between delivering intense brightness while retaining detail, such as a clean outline of the sun during the flying pirate ship sequence of Pan.

We also find the Sony to be more adept at maintaining dark detail with this film, especially in the sequence in which the floating pirate ship drifts through a cavernous tunnel and into Blackbeard’s quarry. The captive children standing in the background of the shot are lost within the shadows on the Panasonic.

Sensing that something isn’t quite right here, we swap to the Z95B's True Cinema mode, which it assures us is very similar to the Filmmaker Mode, albeit with sharpness turned up slightly and the white balance adjusted to be closer to a studio reference monitor – this input comes from Hollywood colourist Stefan Sonnenfeld, with whom Panasonic has worked for a number of years.

We also opt to dial up Panasonic’s Resolution Remaster setting to medium, which seems to sharpen the image and add some necessary depth.

With these settings applied, the Panasonic seems to be much more in its element. It’s still not quite as dazzling as the Sony when it comes to Pan, but the richer, sharper and more balanced picture that the Panasonic presents in these settings does a good job of closing the gap.

Switching back to Civil War, we find that the Panasonic’s contrast handling is greatly improved, allowing for a more strikingly three-dimensional image. A building in the background of a shot in which a sniper takes position is beautifully rendered, with sharp edges and tangible depth that makes it feel strikingly realistic.

Colours are also a highlight here, with a rich and vibrant quality that doesn’t stray into looking overcooked or unrealistic. Panasonic treads a careful line between remaining balanced while adding some necessary punch. The golden-hued intro of Top Gun: Maverick looks dazzling, with vibrant greens and oranges featured on the aircraft carrier’s crew uniforms.

We then switch to Alien Romulus in Dolby Vision on Apple TV+ to find out whether the Panasonic suffers from the same issue that befell the LG G5 in our first test – namely, some nasty near-black posterisation that rendered several scenes unwatchable. Thankfully, the Panasonic Z95B manages to dodge the issue.

With that out of the way, we can enjoy the rich and crisp Dolby Vision picture, which suits the retro-futuristic aesthetic of this film nicely. The blinking orange and yellow buttons in the cockpit of the spacecraft at the very start of the film glow with a vivid, eye-catching quality, while the stars that perforate the infinite void of space shine with pinpoint bursts of brightness.

When the film transitions to Rain dreaming of life on a much nicer-looking planet than the dystopian nightmare she currently finds herself on, we get to once again appreciate how the Panasonic balances rich, vibrant colours with plenty of authenticity.

We quickly switch to the 4K Blu-ray disc of Blade Runner 2049 to affirm our feelings, and it's apparent that the Panasonic is a talented all-rounder indeed. Motion is free from juddering or stuttering throughout our testing, even with our preferred approach of turning all motion-enhancing settings off.

Interestingly, the Panasonic’s colours are a little warmer than the Sony's, which can comparatively look slightly cool. Eventually, we decide that the true colour accuracy probably lies somewhere in between these two excellent TVs, though neither looks outwardly wrong.

Before we conclude our picture testing, we try a standard Blu-ray copy of True Grit to see how the Z95B handles upscaling lower resolution content.

The Panasonic looks surprisingly sharp and clean, which could be the 4K Remaster picture engine working its magic. Regardless, you should have no trouble watching 1080p content on this TV if you plan on using non-4K Blu-rays or the lower tiers of a streaming service.

Sound

The Panasonic Z95B takes audio a bit more seriously than most of the OLED TVs we see on the market. As we’ve established, the built-in Dolby Atmos sound system is tuned by Technics, and it includes an automatic room-adjustment calibration system, which can adapt the output to best suit your viewing space.

So, has Technics delivered the ultimate OLED TV sound system? Realistically, the Z95B sounds good rather than great, but we’ll start with the positives.

There’s no doubting the spatial capabilities of this sound system, as the disembodied voices of the holographic adverts seen when Officer K walks back to his apartment are presented with a genuine sense of height.

It also presents quite a direct sound, with voices being projected outward towards your seating position with a decent sense of clarity. Detail levels are good, too.

There's also a decent dose of musicality to this system, with the upbeat soundtrack of Pan being presented with decent timing and dynamics.

However, the Z95B seems to struggle somewhat when it comes to lower frequencies. Chapter two of Blade Runner 2049, which features a notoriously tricky section, feels a touch lightweight, and what bass there is doesn’t feature much in the way of tonal variation.

As a result, there’s a lack of tension in this sequence; we attempt to rectify this with the Bass Boost setting, but that quickly results in some uncomfortable distortion that does more harm than good overall.

We also find that dialogue can carry some noticeable sibilance, which is combined with a lack of richness and dynamism, resulting in a sharp, flat effect on voices.

The Z95B still sounds significantly better than most rival TVs, including the LG G5 and Samsung S95F, but it perhaps doesn't quite deliver on the promise of its extravagant speaker system.

Verdict

The Panasonic Z95B isn’t a perfect OLED TV, but it is a very likeable one. It requires some time and attention in order to get the best out of it, but once you have it dialled in, you can expect to be rewarded with a rich, authentic and engaging picture.

This is backed up by a decent set of gaming and streaming features, as well as a sound system that’s certainly a cut above the vast majority of TVs, resulting in a solid all-rounder of a TV.

What's more, this all comes packaged in an attractive new design that covers both form and function, making this TV a worthy addition to the roster of flagship sets we’ve seen so far this year.

SCORES

• Picture 5
• Sound 4
• Features 4

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No sooner have we had the chance to be wowed by TCL’s new premium C8K TV than we find ourselves faced with something from much lower down the 2025 pecking order.

With features such as Mini LED lighting, local dimming and universal HDR support to its name, the 50-inch TCL C6KS is arguably just as impressive as its flagship sibling, given its vastly lower price.

Price

The TCL 50C6KS costs, at the time of writing, just £419 in the UK, and $590 in Australia (there isn’t a direct equivalent in the US). This pricing would look very affordable on any 50-inch LCD TV, but we’re heading into potential bargain of the year territory when, as we’ll see, this price isn’t just getting you the stripped-back, ultra-basic TV you’d expect.

Similarly affordable 50-inch TVs are rare. You can now, though, get the latest version of the 50-inch Amazon Fire TV Omni QLED for only a little more. The Amazon set also offers comprehensive HDR support, Quantum Dot colour and local dimming, as well as an Amazon-based smart system that some people may feel more familiar with than the Google TV smarts used on the TCL 50C6KS. Amazon’s set deploys significantly fewer dimming zones than the 50C6KS, though, and does not benefit from Mini LED lighting.

Another very different bargain you could consider would be the Sharp 70GK4245K, which remarkably gives you a 70-inch QLED screen for just £489. It isn’t on the same performance level as the 50-inch C6KS, but there’s nothing around for similar money to match it if screen inches for your buck is your main motivation.

One final note here: the C6KS is not to be confused with the C6K. The model without the ‘S’ is higher-spec (most notably in that it features a 120Hz panel) and doesn’t come in a 50-inch size. It’s also predictably more expensive.

On the subject of sizes, the C6KS is available as a 55-, 65- and 75-inch model, as well as the 50-inch version we have before us today. Backlit TVs can vary greatly in quality as you move up the sizes, though, so it’s best not to assume the larger versions will perform as well as this one.

Design

The 50-inch C6KS looks decently attractive for its money. The frame around the screen is narrow enough not to become a distraction from the picture or take up any more space in your room than necessary, while the shiny black finish of the left, right and top edges looks crisp and contrasts attractively with the glossy silver finish of the bottom edge.

The two feet look a bit plasticky and basic, but their slender profile means they don’t significantly distract you from the screen above.

General build quality is heavy on the plastic, too. But you only really notice this when you’re handling the TV. It’s not obvious just from looking at it from a normal viewing distance.

The set isn’t the slimmest around the back, despite TCL optimistically describing it as having an Ultra Slim Design. But while this slightly deep rear doesn’t make the 50C6KS the most elegant wall-hanging TV option, you won’t notice its chunkiness when it’s sat on its feet unless you watch it from a pretty wide angle.

The C6KS’s remote control feels a bit lightweight, but its long, thin shape, angled rear and gently brushed front edge make it comfortable to hold. Its layout is fairly sensible as well, with good emphasis on the main navigation area and a helpful collection of buttons at the bottom for direct access to some of the most popular video streaming services.

Features

The 50C6KS’s price is arguably its single biggest feature; it’s ridiculously cheap for such a feature-laden and strong-performing TV. But this value component wouldn’t be so strong if its other features didn’t count, too, so let’s get stuck into them – starting with its Mini LED screen.

The Mini LEDs used to illuminate the C6KS are, as their name suggests, many times smaller than the regular LEDs used in most very affordable LCD TVs. This enables TCL’s TV to deliver, on paper at least, both more brightness and more localised light control. What’s more, the 50C6KS backs up its Mini LED lighting with 160 local dimming zones.

Getting any sort of local dimming on a TV this cheap is impressive enough, but getting three figures-worth of dimming zones is unheard of. Though, as ever, it’s not as much about the number of zones, but how they’re used, which we will of course get to in the picture quality section.

The good news continues with the discovery that the C6KS uses a VA-type panel rather than an IPS one – a panel choice that almost always results in better contrast.

In fact, it uses one of TCL’s new HVA panels, which brings a number of enhancements to the table compared with the brand’s equivalent 2024 models. These improvements include wider viewing angles and a suite of new ‘halo control’ innovations designed to minimise the strength and scope of the distracting backlight blooms and leaks that LCD TVs – especially those using local dimming – can throw up around bright highlights when showing HDR pictures.

These halo-reducing tricks include micro lenses in the optical array that are claimed to deliver almost a 19 per cent improvement in halo suppression, a 143 per cent backlight uniformity improvement, and eight times more optical stability.

There are also Quantum Dots in play to help the C6KS deliver a wider colour gamut (TCL claims coverage of 93 per cent of the DCI-P3 colour spectrum used for most HDR mastering) and more colour brightness than regular RGB filter systems can manage.

As noted earlier, the C6KS goes further than many TVs – including some far more expensive ones – in supporting all four of the main HDR formats currently used in the AV world: HLG, HDR10, HDR10+ and Dolby Vision. This means it will always play the best available version of any content you feed it.

This C6KS backs up/unlocks the full potential of its strikingly premium hardware features with TCL’s latest AI-boosted AiPQ processor, while hopes for its audio performance are bolstered by the fact that its 2 x 15W 2.0-channel speaker system has been designed with respected audio brand Onkyo, plus its ability to decode both Dolby Atmos and DTS HD soundtracks.

Smart features are delivered by Google TV, which brings with it the vast majority of the most popular global streaming services. TCL has also gone the extra mile, too, and brought on board separately all the catch-up apps for the UK’s key broadcasters – something Google TV doesn’t manage by itself. Though you don’t get the Freeview Play or Freely ‘umbrella’ apps for UK broadcasters that some other TVs provide.

The Google TV support does bring with it, though, the potential to operate the 50C6KS by talking to it courtesy of Google Assistant.

TCL has established itself as one of the best supporters of gaming on TVs over the past couple of years, so it’s not entirely surprising that even a TV as affordable as the C6KS carries such handy gaming features as TCL’s dedicated Game Bar onscreen menus, ALLM switching, support for the ultra-wide aspect ratios delivered by some PC games, the ability to raise the brightness of dark areas to reveal hiding enemies, and an aiming aid.

There’s even support for VRR – though only up to 60Hz. Yes, that’s right – we’ve stumbled across the one compromise TCL has had to make to keep the 50C6KS so affordable: its screen is a 60Hz one rather than a 100/120Hz one. But so are the screens of practically every other TV selling for around the C6KS’s price.

The 50C6KS’s connections are also marginally compromised versus TCL’s mid-range and premium models in that they only include three HDMI ports rather than four. There are a couple of media-capable USBs alongside those HDMIs, though, and in truth, three HDMIs is pretty par for the course at the sort of price level the C6KS hits.

Picture

If there was a weak point in TCL’s mostly outstanding 2024 range, it was at the equivalent C6 level. The C6KS wastes zero time, though, in proving that TCL isn’t in the mood to make the same mistake twice.

For starters, there’s far less greyness in the 50C6KS’s dark scenes than there was with its predecessors. In fact, black levels are now excellent for a TV at this price point.

This is not just down to the new TV being better at manipulating light in dark scenes to produce deeper black tones, either. These improved black levels also appear to owe a debt to the new HVA panel at the C6KS’s heart, as revealed in particular by the way the screen typically manages to render such an impressive amount of shadow detailing in dark scenes.

The 50C6KS’s much-improved light engine creates precious few backlight blooming distractions either. Even on the rare occasions where a particularly tough, contrast-rich shot does reveal signs of backlight blooming around bright highlights, the halo of extraneous light is invariably faint enough not to count as a remotely serious distraction.

There’s no instability in the 50C6KS’s presentation of very dark scenes, either. We detect neither obvious signs of distracting mid-shot dimming zone adjustments nor any brightness fluctuations during cuts between light and dark shots. And unlike last year’s C6 model, fade to blacks don’t require an obvious ‘full switch off and subsequent full switch on’ of the entire backlighting system.

Making the C6KS’s much-improved handling of dark scenes all the more impressive is the fact that it’s achieved alongside some very impressive brightness for a TV so affordable. In fact, as well as looking two or three times as bright as other similarly priced reference sets we test it against, it gives a fair number of mid-range LCD TVs a run for their brightness money.

The brightness feels very organic to the 50C6KS’s picture, too, by which we mean that, as well as not generally straining the TV’s black levels and local dimming controls, it doesn’t cause the brightest colours to start looking faded or washed out.

The 50C6KS’s colours retain better saturations during very dark shots than we would expect to see with a TV at this level, too, while colour volumes (the combination of saturation and brightness) leave the vast majority of similarly priced TVs looking murky and flat by comparison.

That vibrancy does not come at the expense of subtlety, either. On the contrary, we’re pleasantly surprised by how much refinement and subtle toning the TV retains in areas that are notoriously tricky for affordable TVs, such as skin tones, blue skies, leafy trees and grassy meadows. Nothing feels clumpy or cartoonish.

This has a knock-on effect on the C6KS’s sharpness, joining forces with the strong shadow detail performance to really convince you that you’re looking at 4K images despite this TV sporting a relatively small screen size by today’s standards. Our only warning here would be to not get too carried away with the TCL’s Sharpness Booster feature, as pushing this too high can start to exaggerate grain.

Despite not supporting 120Hz, the C6KS continues TCL’s long run of TV gaming form. The screen’s impressive core 4K sharpness is, if anything, even stronger with gaming graphics than video, while the impressive brightness and contrast for this price level feed into some really punchy game HDR – complete with excellent highlighting that adds to the sense of detail and texture.

Colours are slightly less vibrant in Game mode than they are in, say, the Standard video mode, but tones always look balanced and subtle.

Input lag is a super-fast 9.9ms, too, which is an excellent result by any TV standards.

Inevitably, for a 50-inch TV at this price, the C6KS isn’t perfect. For starters, there’s a little resolution loss over moving objects, especially with 24p movie sources. A few motion processing options are provided, but none of them fully removes the slight motion softness issue.

Next, while the 50C6KS generally handles its impressive brightness well, it can succumb to a little clipping (lost shading details) in some of its brightest highlights.

The Dolby Vision Dark setting, meanwhile, can track a little too dark, resulting in some slight loss of the shadow detail that the TV handles so well in its other picture presets.

We also find that, every now and then, an area of what should be subtle HDR colour blending can suffer from a mild banding effect, and there’s a slight drop off in colour saturation and contrast if you have to watch the screen from a wide angle.

Finally, you need to tweak a few things to get the best out of the 50C6KS. The default Dynamic Tone Mapping system for optimising HDR images to the screen’s capabilities can push highlights a bit high, for instance, so it needs toning down, while colours can look a bit cool out of the box, so you should use the colour settings to add a bit more warmth.

Plus, as we mentioned a moment ago, the default motion processing settings can be a touch heavy-handed.

We can’t stress enough, though, that while the 50C6KS isn’t completely issue-free and needs a little legwork to get the best out of it, there’s nothing in the negative column that’s anywhere near enough to stop this being a TV that spectacularly over-performs for its money.

Sound

It’s nice to find a TV at this price level that supports both Dolby Atmos and DTS Virtual X playback – especially as the 50C6KS actually delivers these premium audio formats with more volume and power than expected without the sound breaking down or sounding coarse.

In fact, its sound is extremely detailed. We pick up subtle elements in some Dolby Atmos soundtracks on this TV that other models miss entirely – even many sets costing many times as much.

The sound is projected nicely out from the TV’s chassis, too, spreading comfortably to the left and right but also managing to sound as if it is being propelled forwards from the screen, despite the lack of any front-firing speakers.

The large soundstage combines with a knack for subtle sound details to place sound effects and handle sound transitions around the soundstage with good accuracy and conviction.

Dialogue is clear at all times, and sounds like it’s coming from the onscreen images rather than from speakers below or behind the screen. There are no distortions, buzzes, crackles or dropouts even at near maximum volumes, and there’s a surprising amount of treble headroom to help the TV handle shrill elements without making you wince.

While the freedom from buzzing and crackling issues extends to the 50C6KS’s handling of bass, though, this might in part be down to the fact that there isn’t actually much bass for the TV to handle.

The set’s midrange is reasonably open and expansive, but a lack of significant low-frequency heft can leave dense mixes sounding a bit lopsided in favour of the treble. This can cause a little over-brightness in the treble register and, more rarely, with dialogue.

Finally, while the 50C6KS sounds generally pleasingly punchy for such an affordable TV, its sound can slightly withdraw into itself when faced with Hollywood’s densest, loudest soundtrack moments.

As with its minor list of picture foibles, though, the 50C6KS’s audio limitations don’t stop it from sounding excellent overall for such an affordable TV.

Of course, it’s still not a patch on the sound quality of even the most affordable soundbars, so we recommend that you head to our best budget soundbars page to find a suitable sonic partner.

Verdict

TCL’s latest ultra-affordable TV is even better than its specs suggest and fixes pretty much everything that was wrong with its predecessor.

The price seems like it must be too good to be true – but it isn’t.

SCORES

• Picture 5
• Sound 5
• Features 4

MORE:

Read our review of the Sharp 70GK4245K

Also consider the Amazon Fire TV Omni QLED

Best TVs: flagship OLEDs and budget LED sets tried and tested

In case you missed one of the sea of other opinion pieces I’ve written this month, I recently completed a marathon OLED group test – one that had me reviewing the 48-inch LG C5, 48-inch Samsung S90F and 48-inch Panasonic Z90B.

For non-techies, that is a tall order as these are three of the biggest names in small-ish OLEDs to arrive this year.

And to be clear off the bat, all of them are five-star small-ish sets, but for very different reasons. You can read our full reviews to get the details.

But as I fell into my familiar Groundhog Day testing pattern, cycling through our test discs and scenes, comparing all three side by side, I came to one distinct conclusion – most of them are too focused on peak and operating brightness.

“What!? An OLED going too bright!? But OLED’s biggest weakness is its inability to match LED TVs' brightness!” – I can already hear the older cinephiles screaming in the distance.

Yes, I admit it, this is an odd thing to say, as there’s no denying that, despite great work by manufacturers, OLEDs still don’t normally go as bright as LEDs, particularly Mini LED sets.

And the ones I reviewed are step-down models that don’t have the brightness boosting Primary RGB Tandem OLED or QD-OLED panel tech seen on this year’s flagship LG G5, Samsung S95F, Sony Bravia 8 II, Philips OLED950 and Panasonic Z95B – they’re all basic WOLEDs.

And yes, I also admit that extra brightness, when utilised well, can improve picture quality, boosting things like HDR performance and detail levels.

But that’s not my argument.

My point is that manufacturers are pushing brightness as the be-all and end-all to the detriment of equally, if not sometimes more, important parts of the picture – especially when it comes to colour volume and temperature.

This is true for different reasons on both the LG C5 and Samsung S90F.

For example, looking at the LG C5, the set handled peak brightness areas nicely in most instances.

After playing Dune: Part 2, we said as much when we reported: “The desert retains its sparkle, with the brightest part of the sky shining in a way OLEDs this price from even a few years ago can’t, but with significantly more detail.”

But, these perks were let down by a key weakness: the C5's tendency to lose colour volume during demanding low-light scenes.

During a heated night-time battle scene courtesy of our Civil War 4K Blu-ray disc, characters’ skin tones in particular lost their natural warmth, taking on a greenish hue. This resulted in a flatter, less natural picture, and this is a an issue we've seen on many recent LG OLEDs.

Though it doesn't happen enough to lose the C5 a star, it is a distraction on the odd occasion it rears its ugly head.

By comparison, the Samsung S90F dealt with the scene much better than the LG, with characters’ skin tones retaining a nicely authentic red tone, and explosions popping out of the dark background with amazing flare.

But it didn’t play as well with Dune: Part 2. During the scene, the set seemed to struggle with the overarching brightness. Here, the intentionally very bright skyline lost some detail. Thanks to the S90F’s focus on showing off its high nit count, at times with little regard for accuracy, this made the skyline look bright but slightly flat, as it was raising the brightness too high across the board.

And it wasn't just in the skyline, in these sections colours also had a minor tendency to look overcooked. Characters' skin tones looked a little off, with the set pushing reds too aggressively.

The focus on brightness and "oomph" also made the Fremen fighters look like they all had individual ring lights on them during certain parts of the scene, thanks to the aggressive processing which made peaks burn brighter than they needed to.

Again, these issues only occurred during very specific, demanding scenes, and generally the S90F performed excellently.

But, while both sets' extra brightness was a boon in most instances, it could have been made so much more effective if both manufacturers had taken a bit more care with the TVs' handling of colours and chosen to only push the panel's nit count when they actually needed to.

This was particularly noticeable when I ran the Panasonic Z90B against them. Here, though the set undeniably looks dimmer than its rivals, the focus on only going bright when it needed to, and the care and attention Panasonic has made to ensure colours look uniform regardless of whether the scene is light or dark, paid off in spades.

Because of this, the set is a key example how TV makers can take advantage of the extra brightness recent AV technological improvements offer, without sacrificing authenticity.

As we said in our review:

“The background dunes retain a warm detail that is lost on the rivals we test it against, which occasionally reduce subtle shades of red and orange to pure white. The same is true as the action transitions to a dim segment of the film. Here, the Panasonic manages to retain the colour volume and detail of skin tones in a way that is beyond many modern OLEDs.”

That, my friends, is clear proof if ever there was any of the importance of focussing on holistic picture quality, and colours in particular, over simply chasing a high nit/peak brightness count – which I and movie-makers have said many times before.

The only difference here being that I'm usually ranting about Mini LED sets, instead of OLEDs.

Here's hoping we see more OEMs follow Panasonic's lead in 2026...

MORE:

These are the best OLED TVs we’ve tested

We rate the best 40-inch TVs

Our picks of the best soundbars to compliment your new OLED

The Panasonic Z90B 48-inch is a smaller OLED with some serious competition, targeting as it does the five-star 48-inch versions of the LG C5 and Samsung S90F.

To enter the fray with some confidence, it is armed to the teeth with many of the benefits that have made past Panasonic sets fan favourites among What Hi-Fi? readers and a regular sight in our best OLED TV guide. Chief among those is the company’s ongoing focus on delivering “as the director intended” home cinema experiences.

But, is this enough to earn it a recommendation in an increasingly competitive segment of the OLED TV market? Here’s what we found after putting it through its paces in our test rooms.

Price

The 48-inch Panasonic Z90B in our test rooms currently costs £1500. Panasonic TVs haven’t been on sale in Australia for quite some time now, and sadly, despite Panasonic re-launching in the United States last year, the Z90B isn’t included in this year’s US line-up – instead, you can get only the more expensive Z95B or cheaper Z80B OLEDs.

The price means the 48-inch Z90B costs the same as the equivalently sized Samsung S90F and LG C5. All three are a little too new to have had any serious discounts.

If 48 inches isn’t quite right, you can grab the smaller 42-inch Z90B for £1400. Prices then scale up as you increase in size, peaking at £3500 for the largest, 77-inch Z90B option.

Build

The Z90B doesn’t deviate from Panasonic’s past OLED designs. That means there are pluses and minuses.

The sleek TV is thin, making it easy to mount flush to a wall. Unlike the larger models in the Z90B range, which have a circular pedestal, the 48-inch set’s stand is a large rectangle. Sadly, it doesn’t have a swivel mechanism.

While a smaller footprint would be good, it’s a well-made unit. Made of metal, the stand feels very sturdy, and offers no sway or flex during testing – one of our testers describing it as nicely toddler- and pet-proof.

But the speaker bar at its bottom returns. This is effectively a bolted-on soundbar that, Panasonic claims, removes the need to invest in a separate sound system.

Putting aside the fact that we have yet to find a TV where we can agree with such claims, the inclusion is an annoyance if you happen to have a soundbar already.

We have long argued that we would like Panasonic to offer a variant of its top OLEDs without the bar, at a lower price, for those of us who already have a good sound system. But, alas, that isn’t happening this year.

The only visual difference with the Z90B’s speaker bar is that it now has a grey acoustic covering, instead of plain black.

The TV’s remote control is also all but identical to that of past Panasonic OLEDs. It’s a large, clunky remote with shortcuts to all the apps and features you might want, but little else.

There’s no backlight, solar, or USB charging, and it generally feels a little clunky and archaic at this point.

Features

The 48-inch Panasonic Z90B is generally well featured as small OLED TVs go – to the point it goes pound-for-pound in most areas with the 48-inch Samsung S90F and LG C5.

Like all the small step-down OLEDs we have tested this year, the Z90B uses a regular WOLED panel.

The brightness-boosting Micro Lens Array (MLA) tech sported on last year’s Panasonic Z95A is being retired rather than trickling down a price point. The newer Primary RGB Tandem OLED tech that made its debut in January is coming only to the Panasonic Z95B flagship.

However, the Z90B does come with one advantage over its competitors: a heatsink. This is a key feature that we have wanted to see on step-down models – especially small ones – for quite some time. The smaller dimensions and more tightly packed pixels on OLEDs of this size mean the sets can heat up more than their larger siblings, which in turn risks causing performance issues and, in some instances, damage.

Which is why, traditionally, companies are much more conservative with how hard they push smaller OLED sets. Hence the lower brightness and performance differences we usually experience on smaller OLEDs when comparing them with their larger counterparts.

The heatsink in the Z90B, though, should let Panasonic push the panel harder for better performance, all while reducing the risk of burn-in and panel degradation.

The set also features Panasonic’s latest generation HCX Pro AI Processor MKII chipset. This is the same silicon seen in the Z95B and features a similar AI processing focus to all the other TV chips we have seen this year.

The HCX Pro AI Processor MKII comes with Panasonic’s 4K Remaster Engine upscaling and a new Amazon Prime Video Calibrated picture setting – similar to the mode Sony added to its 2024 range. This complements the set’s standard Filmmaker Mode.

As a final perk, the set also continues Panasonic’s partnership with TV calibration specialists Portrait Displays, which means the Z90B can be Calman calibrated with relative ease (providing you have the equipment and technical know-how).

The addition of a Prime Video mode is unsurprising, as the Z90B continues Panasonic’s ongoing cosying up to Amazon – the set once again runs the retail giant’s Fire TV OS. This means you get excellent app support, with Apple TV+, Disney Plus, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and more all present and working correctly.

Specialist services and local catch-ups, including Shudder, Crunchyroll, BBC iPlayer, ITVX, Freely and more, all have green ticks. In fact, our only minor quibble is that the interface is still a little ad-heavy and doesn’t always make crystal clear which content is free and which is paid for.

HDR support is excellent. The Z90B supports nearly all four of the common HDR standards: HLG, HDR10, HDR10+ and Dolby Vision.

The inclusion of HDR10+ and Dolby Vision is particularly welcome, as these are rival standards with a similar focus – delivering frame-by-frame optimisations to improve contrast and dynamic range.

Their offshoot HDR10+ Adaptive and Dolby Vision IQ variants are also supported and again have similar aims. They both work to further optimise the screen’s performance and settings based on ambient light conditions.

The only minor downside with the Z90B is that, unlike its Samsung and LG rivals, it has only two full-speed HDMI 2.1 inputs, one of which doubles as its eARC.

That will be fine for people who have just one current-generation games console and a Dolby Atmos soundbar to connect. But the PS5, Xbox Series X/S and modern gaming PCs all require an HDMI 2.1 input to run at full speed. So if, like many of us, you have more than one console, and/or a gaming PC and an Atmos soundbar, be prepared for a fair amount of cable swapping.

That apart, the Z90B’s gaming specifications are solid. Like all the step-down sets we have seen this year, it can run at a maximum of 4K/144Hz, which is faster than current-generation games consoles' 4K/120Hz cap.

VRR and ALLM are also included, which let the TV match the framerate to the incoming signal and reduce latency. There’s even an option to allow your gaming source to handle HDR tone-mapping for a more “as the creator intended” look to your favourite titles.

All of this can be controlled in the set’s new Game Control Board quick menu, which also lets you pull up performance stats and tweak specific settings as you play. So, all-in-all, pretty impressive, despite the limited number of HDMI 2.1 inputs.

Picture

“A superb TV that delivers the authenticity for which Panasonic is renowned.”

“An authentic, controlled and balanced picture, the set uses the added brightness in a way that truly improves rather than distracts from what’s happening on screen.”

“Colours and motion all hold a wonderful authenticity that makes for a wonderful viewing experience, especially if you want to experience movies as the director intended.”

The above are all quotes from three of our latest Panasonic OLED reviews, which hopefully confirm the company’s reputation for delivering wonderfully authentic, as the director intended, movie experiences.

Does the Z90B live up to this legacy? Comparing it with its LG C5 and Samsung S90F rivals in our viewing rooms, we are happy to report the answer is a firm yes.

This is apparent from the moment we fire up our first test disc, a 4K Blu-ray copy of Dune: Part 2, using the Z90B and our ever-faithful Oppo UDP-203 player.

Even in its far-from-perfect out-of-the-box settings, the picture is less in your face than most rivals in similar settings. The desert scene retains some semblance of colour accuracy, being only a smidgeon too warm for our liking.

Peak highlights are pushed a little hard, especially in segments of the picture with mixed light and dark elements, but not as much as on the S90F next to it, which looks significantly more artificial.

In fact, our only big gripe is with its motion handling, which is too smooth. The additional fake frames that the processing generates make the Fremen freedom fighters look somewhat as if they are floating through the air, rather than violently lunging at their enemies.

Luckily, it is really easy to adjust the settings to fix all this: put the TV in Filmmaker mode. No further tweaking is really required, as this mode turns off pretty much all the TV’s unnecessary features.

Once that’s done, the picture is the best we have seen on a new 48-inch OLED this year.

Colours are a particular highlight. The set retains the warm, rich, scorching desert tone the director intended, without ever feeling overbaked. The background dunes retain a warm detail that is lost on the rivals we test it against, which occasionally reduce subtle shades of red and orange to pure white.

The same is true as the action transitions to a dim segment of the film. Here, the Panasonic manages to retain the colour volume and detail of skin tones in a way that is beyond many modern OLEDs.

There’s a warmth, even in the darkest parts of characters’ faces, with a wonderful range of colours and shades that also extends to the brightest part of the picture. Each part is full of detail without any loss of authenticity or addition of artificiality.

This isn’t due to the Z90B pushing its panel’s brightness. In fact, 99 per cent of the time, if anything, it is actually dimmer than its competition – but it saves its efforts for the moments it is genuinely meant to go bright.

Moving to a night-time battle scene of our Civil War test disc, the set produces wonderful peak highlights that are every bit as bright and full of detail as on the S90F and C5. But because it chooses to focus its efforts on the areas that are meant to be bright, they hold a much more distinct, realistic place in the picture, adding weight and a true sense of three-dimensionality to the scene.

Looking at a chandelier in the White House, every bauble is visible and sharp, and there is a wide gamut in the burning bulbs that is lost on many competing sets – which once again simply show entire sections of the ornament as white.

There are, though, some drawbacks that might put off cinema viewers who like their home cinema to have an overt “wow” factor.

We switch to the opening scene of Alien: Romulus. Blacks are nicely inky, and the background stars shine out of the dead space with wonderful menace, but as a ship exits the void and approaches the viewer, it takes a while longer for it to fully come into view.

The set’s intentionally low brightness means that, while each nook, cranny and detail of the ship coming out of the black are there, we have to look harder for them as they are more thoroughly veiled in shadow. If you want pop, this isn’t the set for you.

This is even more apparent when we switch to our standard SDR Blu-ray True Grit test disc, which we often use to gauge a TV’s upscaling powers due to its incredibly demanding opening scene and intentionally grainy quality.

The opening night-time scene is incredibly dark, with some details on the house's porch that are visible on rival sets coming across as completely black. Falling snow lacks some definition and all but disappears when it hits the darkest part of the picture.

Things pick up in a brighter town scene, but the SDR performance doesn’t quite have the dynamic range we would like, and some aspects, including some characters’ rather magnificent beards, still lack the definition we experience on the competitor sets we are testing it against.

This doesn’t mean the Z90B is bad at upscaling – colours remain accurate and the picture is more than watchable and still blissfully free of artefacts – it’s just one area where it definitely isn’t this year’s class leader.

Sound

The Z90B comes with a “Dynamic Theatre Surround Pro” speaker system that Panasonic markets as being bespoke-designed for audiophiles looking for a true Dolby Atmos experience.

Despite this, it's a basic 60W, 2.1 arrangement. There are no up-firing drivers. The subwoofer is housed on the TV’s back, while the two front-facing speakers are bolted onto the set’s bottom.

Does it deliver an audiophile experience? No. But, being fair to Panasonic, the Z90B does easily outclass every other 48-inch OLED we have tested this year in terms of audio.

There’s a sense of direction as gunfire flies left and right across the screen during Civil War. There is also noticeably more low-end heft and volume, with the explosions offering some rumble, even at moderate volumes.

Switching to Oppenheimer, the set offers reasonable separation between background noises and characters’ voices, making it easy to follow conversations even during scenes with heavy low-end background noise.

But the system is still not perfect, and can’t match the quality of a moderately capable soundbar, including our recommended Sonos Beam (Gen 2).

The subwoofer adds heft, but the unit isn’t precise enough. The thundering fighter jets of our Top Gun: Maverick test disc sound too flabby, with the sonic boom lacking the precise impact it deserves.

Higher-level engine noises show the front drivers are a little underpowered, with distortion creeping in and the upper frequencies taking on an acidic, unpleasant tone – especially at high volumes.

Having said all that, the end result is still the best audio performance you’ll find on an OLED this size – but it’s still one that falls short of what we can describe as truly immersive.

Verdict

Thanks to its ongoing focus on colour accuracy and delivering an “as the director intended” experience rather than razzmatazz, the 48-inch Panasonic Z90B is the best TV at its size that we have tested.

From sparkling desert dunes in sci-fi epics to cars thundering across a race track and heated conversations behind closed doors, every scene we threw at this set looked wonderfully authentic and weighty.

If you want a 48-inch OLED TV and value cinematic authenticity, the Panasonic Z90B is currently the one to get.

SCORES

• Picture 5
• Sound 4
• Features 5

MORE:

Read our review of the 48-inch Samsung S90F

Also consider the 48-inch LG C5

Read our 55-inch LG C5 review

Best TVs: flagship OLEDs and budget LED sets tried and tested

The Samsung S90F is one of a select few OLED TVs available in a small lounge or bedroom-friendly 48-inch size.

This makes it interesting to any serious home cinema fan short on space – or, indeed, one who simply doesn’t want their TV to be the main focal point of the room.

Despite its relatively small size, this 48-inch set doesn’t skimp on features. Indeed, it matches and even at times beats one of our top OLED recommendations at this size.

But a specification sheet tells you only so much. What really matters is how a TV performs in the real world. Here, then, is what we found after thoroughly testing the S90F in our dedicated viewing rooms, directly against its rivals.

Price

The 48-inch Samsung S90F costs £1499 / $1500 / AU$2499. A smattering of short-lived deals have knocked a small amount off that recently, but you’re generally looking at paying full price at the time of writing.

Its arch rival, the 48-inch LG C5, costs the same as the S90F in the UK and Australia, and slightly more in the US – £1500 / $1599 / AU$2499.

You can also get the S90F in 55-, 65-, 77- and 83-inch sizes. Prices rise in line with the TV’s size, topping out at £6000 / $5400 for the largest 83-inch set.

Build

The Samsung S90F is a sleek-looking OLED with a similar aesthetic to its C5 rival.

The central pedestal stand is a particular highlight. It is quick and easy to connect to the screen, with a screw-free design. Assembly takes less than a minute.

The stand’s top face is also angled fairly flat and sets the screen slightly higher than most of the 48-inch OLEDs we test. This makes it high enough to house a smaller soundbar, such as the Sonos Beam (Gen 2), without any of the screen being blocked.

As an added, neat bonus, there are gaps in the pedestal’s top and sides which make it easy to pass cables through. The only real omission is that the stand doesn’t swivel, but at this size and with most of the ports on the TV’s side, that’s less of an annoyance here than it can be on larger sets.

We wish more companies took this much care with their sets. These small quality-of-life optimisations make a huge difference when setting up and using the TV in the real world – cable management matters, kids.

If you want to wall-mount, the S90F’s 39mm depth and flat back mean it is neat enough to sit flush to a wall – although you will need to invest in a compatible mount.

Unlike the LG C5, the Samsung S90F ships with two controller options. The first is a retro, traditional slab full of manual controls that will make anyone born earlier than the ’90s feel right at home.

The second is a more streamlined modern handset, complete with USB charging and a rear-facing solar charging panel, which works to extend its battery life. The only addition we would really like to see is backlighting, which would make it much easier to use in the dark.

Features

The S90F is a fairly feature-packed OLED, particularly for one at its size. But the 48-inch model in our viewing rooms does have one key omission compared with its larger siblings.

The 48-inch model uses a WOLED panel. In certain regions, the larger, more expensive 65-inch model has a next-generation, brightness-boosting QD-OLED panel.

This is a bit of a shame, of course, but with the LG C5 also featuring a WOLED, rather than the next-generation Primary RGB Tandem OLED seen on the LG G5, it’s hardly a deal breaker.

Samsung has also raised the brightness, despite the lack of new panel technology, quoting the S90F as offering a 1300-nit peak. That’s a 30 per cent improvement over the S90D, but still a far cry from the S95F’s 2000-nit cap.

The S90F is also one of the only non-LG OLEDs you can buy with the full complement of four, rather than the more standard two, full-fat HDMI 2.1 inputs – one of which functions as the eARC connection needed to connect a Dolby Atmos soundbar.

If you have just a soundbar and one current-generation games console to connect, that extra connectivity won’t make much difference. But current-generation PlayStation and Xbox consoles, as well as PCs with a modern graphics card, need an HDMI 2.1 input to run at full speed. So, for the increasing number of people with a PS5 and Xbox Series X/S or gaming PC as well, it’s a rare blessing that will remove the faff of constantly having to swap cables in and out.

The S90F actually goes beyond 4K/120Hz with its support for 4K/144Hz, though this is only relevant to hardcore PC gamers with similarly hardcore rigs. As you would expect, ALLM and VRR are also supported.

An AI game mode and pop-up Gaming Bar shortcut menu are also present, making it easy to tweak the TV’s settings quickly as needed when playing.

The only omission is Dolby Vision Gaming – no Samsung set supports any form of Dolby Vision. Samsung continues to put all its eggs in HDR10, HLG and HDR10+, the last of which is Samsung’s answer to Dolby Vision. It uses dynamic metadata to adjust and optimise the picture on a frame-by-frame level.

Under the hood lies the same NQ4 AI Gen3 processor sported by the S90F’s more expensive S95F sibling. As with all the pieces of modern silicon we see, the chipset has an overt focus on AI, with Samsung’s 4K AI Upscaling Pro, AI Motion Enhancer Pro and AI Colour Booster Pro services all catered for.

These all do pretty much what they say on their respective tins and take advantage of the chipset’s “neural networks” to improve contrast, boost colour accuracy and intelligently upscale content to 4K as required.

The S90F employs the same home-brew Samsung Tizen OS as Samsung’s other 2025 OLEDs. This continues the TV’s AI focus, offering things such as curated profiles based on user habits, including recommended shows from every installed app – a little like Google TV’s recommendation hub.

App support remains solid, with the OS offering all the usual suspects, including Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV+. There’s also a good selection of local catch-up services, including BBC iPlayer as well as specialist offerings such as Shudder and Crunchyroll.

The only other feature omissions compared with Samsung’s more premium S95F are the lack of a One Connect box (which neatens up the set-up by separating connected kit from the TV) and a Glare Free screen coating.

Picture

Samsung TVs have a track record for delivering blow-your-socks-off experiences, pushing panels hard to give them a fun, but at times slightly overcooked feel. Out of the box, the S90F continues this trend.

Putting our first test disc, Dune: Part 2, into our faithful Oppo UDP-203 4K player, the images are red – very red. To the point that the scene looks like it’s taking place on Mars.

Out of the box, too, motion handling is smoothed to the point Fremen fighters look like puppets dancing on marionette strings – even compared with the LG C5 we are testing the S90F against, which itself isn’t perfect out of the box.

Bright areas look artificial, with the sun and sand’s highlights pushing too hard, and standing out from the background in an unnatural way.

A switch to Movie mode improves things, but motion is still a little too smooth and highlights still don’t look quite right. Colours are still too warm and the TV is generally still a little too pushy with its processing.

We settle on Filmmaker mode with judder, blur and noise reduction off, colour booster off and the colour profile set to Warm One.

Then the desert retains a decent level of pop and colours look much more realistic, with rolling sand dunes featuring wonderful levels of detail. Movements lose their artificiality with the darting desert warriors’ strikes feeling as sharp as the knives they wield.

A challenging segment in which a Fremen fighter launches a rocket at an enemy ornithopter is handled ably, with the craft’s fluttering wings remaining blissfully free of ghost frames.

Our only minor issue is the skyline, which still looks a little too red for our liking and misses some of the subtle hues seen on the 48-inch LG C5 we’re testing it against. The bright sun in the top-left corner is also not quite as bright as we would like, making the picture a touch flat.

This continues as we switch to Civil War on 4K Blu-ray. When one of the characters wakes up in a field on a hot summer’s day, he should look just a touch sunburned, but the S90F exaggerates this just a touch.

These relatively minor complaints are soon forgotten, though, as the film transitions to a night-time battle. Explosions pop out of the dark cityscape with dazzling brightness and a clear, bright fiery hue that makes them truly come to life.

The S90F also manages to retain colour volume during the tricky scene, with characters’ faces retaining their warmth and offering solid levels of detail in both the darkest and lightest parts of the picture – which is impressive as many OLEDs can struggle here.

We switch to our Alien: Romulus test disc, and the S90F’s strengths in low light continue. As a giant spaceship leaves the dark vacuum of space and slowly floats into view, while the contrast is a touch heavy-handed, leading to some minor black crush, the overall image is wonderfully three-dimensional and immersive.

Popping our ever-demanding SDR Blu-ray of True Grit into our player, the TV offers one of the best upscaled pictures we have seen in quite a while.

The opening scene pushes the lanterns in the otherwise pitch black farmstead to the point they hold a wonderful, isolating beauty, without ever seeming artificial. The falling soft snow is blissfully free of artefacts and retains its soft, fluffy quality.

In a brighter scene in the wild west town, the picture retains its spaghetti western, grainy feel, but features a wonderful sense of depth, with every stitch and dirt stain in the characters’ clothing looking sharp, but never artificial.

The same is true when we stream an episode of Pottery Throw Down on the BBC iPlayer. The picture features vibrant colours that do justice to the creations of the contestants, giving them a lifelike, immersive three-dimensionality that is missing from many rivals.

Sound

The S90F comes with a 60-watt, 2.1.2-channel Dolby Atmos-ready, built-in sound system. It comes with just two profiles: Standard and Amplify.

This is apparently due to Samsung’s confidence in its new AI chipset’s ability to leverage its neural network smarts to optimise the audio both to the space the set is in and to the user’s tastes.

Does it work? No. You’ll want a soundbar to do justice to any movie. Still, the speakers aren’t the worst we have heard on a set this size.

Watching Civil War, the speakers are very weak – we are easily able to hold a conversation even with the volume set at 100.

Go north of 60 on the volume control and distortion creeps into the sound of gunfire and background explosions, despite the set’s lack of low-end heft. We attempt to fix things by switching to Amplify, but find it acts in a similar way to LG’s AI Sound Pro mode.

The mode attempts to offer better separation between different parts of the audio, but ultimately pushes the low end down to the point that all you hear are voices and upper frequencies, which take on a sibilant, forced quality. We soon switch back to standard, which offers a more balanced performance, with some benefits at lower volumes.

Though the weedy speakers can’t deliver the oomph we want, there is at least some sense of directionality. During a heated scene from Top Gun: Maverick, the S90F’s audio manages to match the jet plane’s on-screen movements, and there is enough separation between the characters’ voices and background effects to easily follow their conversation.

The S90F’s audio, then, is a mixed bag.

Verdict

Good TV sound is a rare thing, particularly at this sort of size, so the S90F’s audio performance doesn’t cost it a star.

And, in fact, this is an excellent 48-inch OLED overall – one of the best we have tested, despite the slight colour exaggeration.

For your money, you’ll get a bright, punchy, smallish OLED capable of delivering a fun home movie experience full of pop. Add to this flawless gaming specifications and excellent app support, and you get a TV that we are happy to recommend.

SCORES

• Picture 5
• Features 5
• Sound 3

MORE:

Read our review of the LG C5

Also consider the LG QNED93

Read our Samsung QN95D review

Best TVs: flagship OLEDs and budget LED sets tried and tested

The 48-inch LG C5 is the second smallest option in the company’s current step-down line of OLED TVs – which automatically makes it an interesting beast.

Flagship OLED TVs aren't really produced in sub-55-inch sizes. Sure, there's the new 48-inch G5, but that lacks the Primary RGB panel of its larger siblings, so it doesn't really count as a fully fledged flagship.

All of which is to say that while the C5 range is a step-down line, the 48-inch C5 is pretty much as premium as TVs this size get.

It’s also coming off the back of a hot streak for LG, with two generations of its predecessors not only earning top marks from our reviewers, but then going on to win What Hi-Fi? Awards.

Has lightning struck a third time with LG’s 48-inch C5 OLED TV? Here’s what we found after thoroughly putting it through its paces in our dedicated test rooms.

Price

The 48-inch LG C5 launched at a price of £1500 / $1599 / AU$2499. We’ve recently seen some early discounts that knock the odd hundred off, but you're currently still looking at paying close to full price.

The 48-inch C5's main rival is the identically sized Samsung S90F, which uses the same OLED panel technology. Unsurprisingly, the 48-inch Samsung S90F is priced at launch very similarly to the C5, at £1499 / $1500 / AU$2499.

You can also get the C5 in 42-, 55-, 65-, 77- and 83-inch sizes. The 42-inch LG C5 launched for £1400 / $1399 / AU$2199. Prices then rise in line with the TV’s size, capping at £5999 / $5399 / AU$7999 for the largest 83-inch option.

Build

LG hasn’t rethought the wheel with the C5’s design. In fact, it’s so unchanged that if you put it next to 2022's LG C2, let alone last year's C4, you would probably struggle to spot the difference.

Unlike the 42-inch model, the 48-inch C5 has the same central stand design as the 55-inch version we reviewed earlier this year, which is quick and easy to assemble. Just plonk the stand on the TV's back and secure it with the included screws. Once done, it provides a stable base that will fit on most regular-sized TV cabinets without issue.

Sadly, the stand doesn’t have a swivel mechanism, though this is less of an issue here as the set’s ports are mostly housed on its side rather than back, making them fairly easy to access.

The bigger annoyance is the angled slant and low height of the stand, which can make the positioning of a soundbar tricky. If you do go for a soundbar, you will want to make sure it's a fairly low-profile model, such as the Sonos Beam (Gen 2).

In the US and many other territories, LG has released a new sleek, modernised controller for the C5. But we’re yet to see it in the UK, where a slightly tweaked version of the somewhat long-in-the-tooth Magic Remote is the only option provided.

The controller remains largely unchanged outside of the addition of a new AI shortcut button and a minor tweak that changes the input button so you can control all connected devices with it – including things such as smart lightbulbs – rather than just select which HDMI input you want.

While these changes are fine, we would have liked LG to make bigger quality-of-life changes, adding things such as backlighting and rechargeable batteries – elements that are increasingly common on rival OLED sets we test.

While the pointer functionality, which lets you navigate menus with an onscreen cursor that’s moved with motion controls, is welcome, the remote is clunky to use in low light, which is what most serious movie fans will be doing.

Features

The 48-inch LG C5 is packed to the brim with features, which is particularly impressive considering its small size. But, as with its design, not a great deal has changed since last year.

Starting with the two big elephants in the room: the panel tech remains unchanged and, despite years of asking, there’s still no heatsink.

The panel used remains a WOLED, with the older brightness-boosting Micro Lens Array (MLA) tech seen on last year’s G4 sadly being retired, rather than trickling down to the C-series, as we’d hoped it would this year.

The lack of MLA is a shame, as it does offer palpable brightness improvements based on our testing. But it’s also not surprising, as it has been superseded by the Primary RGB Tandem OLED panel tech that LG Display debuted on the LG G5 at CES in January. MLA is sadly going to the same farm as curved screens and 3D TVs.

Equally, a heatsink could have helped the TV go brighter for longer without risking damage. The omission is particularly noticeable on this size of the C5 which, despite having the same Brightness Booster Engine as the larger models, can't hit the same peak brightness levels.

This isn’t a phenomenon specific to the C5, though. It’s an issue on all smaller OLEDs, due to a combination of factors including pixel aperture and the impact it has on heat management. Pushing the panel too hard can also impact colour accuracy, which is why companies tend to tune smaller sets more conservatively than larger models.

The only big change for the C5 is the use of a newer LG Alpha 9 Gen 8 processor. Like every chipset we’ve seen recently, the Alpha 9 Gen 8 has an overt focus on AI, which LG claims it has leveraged to help the TV deliver more advanced upscaling and holistically improve colour accuracy, audio quality and HDR tone mapping.

Outside of the dedicated AI picture and sound profiles, which can be accessed in the C5’s settings, the only obvious front-facing AI feature it brings is a new chatbot system designed to help you troubleshoot and generally use the set. Through vocal commands, you can do things such as tweak picture settings and ask what a particular toggle does.

The C5 supports the most common HDR standards of HDR10, Dolby Vision and HLG. The only ongoing omission is Samsung’s home-brewed, open-source HDR10+, which is a rival to Dolby Vision and offers similar frame-by-frame dynamic range optimisation powers for compatible content.

Thankfully, the lack of big feature changes is largely forgivable, as the LG C-series was already one of the most feature-packed you could find.

The main highlight remains the inclusion of four, as opposed to the more standard two, full-speed HDMI 2.1 inputs, one of which doubles as an eARC port.

While two HDMIs will be fine for most people, dedicated gamers with multiple latest-gen consoles and a sound system (which will use the eARC port) will really benefit from the C5's four.

Those four HDMI 2.1 sockets all support 4K/144Hz (as well as the more common 4K/120Hz), plus VRR and ALLM. Dolby Vision gaming is also on board and a welcome inclusion for Xbox Series X/S owners.

So all-in-all, if you connect a current generation games console or PC, the unit will run smoothly and as fast as the machine allows – it won’t be the C5 causing the bottleneck.

LG’s webOS 25 software runs the show and is fairly similar to the version we saw on the older C4. The only big addition outside of the AI assistant is a new Xbox app, which lets you stream games directly from the TV and adds the ability to pair a Bluetooth controller directly to the C5. This used to be exclusive to Samsung TVs.

Otherwise, the OS retains its strong app support, with key services including Netflix, Disney Plus, Apple TV+, Amazon Prime Video, BBC iPlayer and ITVX all being supported and running correctly during our checks.

Picture

Powering up the 48-inch LG C5 paired with our trusty Oppo UDP-203 4K Blu-ray player, the set immediately has a different character to both its 55-inch sibling and its key rivals. Watching Dune: Part 2 with the TV’s out of the box standard settings, as often happens, the set tries too hard.

Peak bright areas in the desert stand out too much as the C5 tries to show quite how bright it can go, while colours look a touch too warm. Motion handling is also very heavy-handed, with the fighters looking like dancing ballerinas, rather than aggressive knife-wielding warriors.

Thankfully, things rapidly improve as we fiddle with the settings, eventually settling on Filmmaker Mode, with the lowest Cinematic Movement option on, sharpening and judder reduction off and dynamic tone mapping on. Colour temperature, which is now tweaked using a slider control, rather than the less granular options of before, is left at its default for Filmmaker Mode.

Set up accordingly, the desert retains its sparkle, with the brightest part of the sky shining in a way OLEDs this price from even a few years ago can’t, but with significantly more detail.

Bright shading is strong, too, with a wonderful hue of blue transitioning to orange across the image.

Cloud clusters equally retain their shape, despite the added brightness, showing the difference pixel-level light control can make. Our only minor quibble is that colour temperature still looks a smidgeon too cool, but rapidly shifts the other way when we make minor adjustments.

Motion handling has also now regained its composure, with the actions of the on-screen characters taking on their intended weight, and a difficult scene in which a Fremen fighter launches a missile at an Ornithopter looks accurate, with no ghost frames or awkwardness seeping in.

We move on to one of our new favourite 4K Blu-ray test discs, Civil War. During the heated nighttime battle scene, the explosions look dynamic and truly pop out of the dark sections with zero bloom – as we’d expect from an OLED – but we see colour volume drop slightly, especially in characters’ skin tones.

This is particularly noticeable on close-up shots. While the brightest parts of faces pop and look wonderfully three-dimensional, the darker parts take on a greenish hue, losing all warmth, resulting in a flatter, less natural image than we like.

This is slightly annoying as the set otherwise handles dark scenes admirably. Switching to our Alien: Romulus test disc, the opening scene shows a giant spacecraft slowly creeping out of the pitch black vacuum of space. The image is full of detail with every nook and cranny of the vessel on display, giving us a wonderfully three-dimensional spectacle.

Playing Top Gun: Maverick, the skyline once again looks excellent, full of pop and detail, but an area of the aircraft carrier in the shadows looks slightly flat, losing some definition in areas that look wonderfully sharp on the Samsung S90F we’re testing it against (full review coming soon).

Yet, when we switch to Oppenheimer, the issue doesn’t repeat during a shadow-heavy scene where he is meeting politicians. The skin tones look natural, and the entire picture has a sharp, wonderfully three-dimensional quality, with every stitch of their suits visible.

Moving to our final, incredibly difficult, SDR True Grit upscaling test, the C5 performs well.

During the tricky opening, the dark lights in the night-time farm hold a nicely bright, distinctive spot, with the glow illuminating details well without introducing noise or oversharpening the falling, fluffy snow.

The intentional spaghetti western grain is retained as we move to a brighter scene, with the set not pushing too hard and oversharpening or flattening the very difficult picture.

Ultimately, while the 48-inch LG C5 displays a couple of niggling picture issues, it's superbly competent overall. And many users won't notice those issues at all.

Sound

The 48-inch C5 features the same 2.2-channel 40W speaker system as the outgoing C4.

On a set this size, audio quality is usually one of the main compromises you have to put up with. This is because their smaller dimensions impact how much air the speakers can move around. Based on our testing, this remains the case with the 48-inch C5.

Starting with the set in its standard audio mode, the C5’s performance is distinctly flat, with every part of the sound coming from the centre of the screen. Gunfire and soldiers’ shouts during Civil War lack their intended directional quality.

On top of this, while gunfire never sounds acidic as it does on the S90F, it lacks the bite you’d expect, and explosions in the distance show the C5’s low end doesn’t quite have the heft required to deliver the intended, bone-rumbling effect.

Sadly, this isn’t fixed when we switch to the AI audio mode. LG is making a lot of noise about the C5’s new AI audio powers, with its custom AI Sound mode that aims to “optimise the audio” to its users’ specific tastes. The set-up requires you to click through a process, picking options that “describe your preferences” before optimising the speakers to them.

Here, while the set noticeably tries to separate the frequency range more, it makes each part thin in the process. Gunfire takes on a nasal, fizzy quality, and sibilance creeps into dialogue while the low end all but disappears.

We get the best results switching to the set’s Cinema mode. But even then, the audio lacks definition.

Moving to an intense scene in Top Gun: Maverick, the audio remains flat. The boom of jet engines lacks precision and directionality, and voices aren’t suitably separated from background noise, making some conversations hard to follow.

This makes a soundbar or other speaker system an essential purchase for any serious movie fan planning to pick up the LG C5.

Verdict

The 48-inch LG C5 retains the Korean giant's legacy as one of the top small-ish OLED TV makers, but largely because it sticks very closely to the blueprint that made past C-series sets great, rather than any clever innovation.

If you’re yet to take the OLED plunge, then this is a solid option, especially if you’re short on space or cash-rich enough to justify one as a secondary, bedroom set.

But the lack of progress is beginning to show at this size, and it means that the 48-inch LG C5 isn’t the slam-dunk, no-brainer purchase it used to be – especially with Samsung and Panasonic nipping at its heels.

SCORES

• Picture 5
• Features 5
• Sound 2

MORE:

Read our review of the 48-inch LG C4

Also consider the 48-inch Samsung S90F

Read our LG 65QNED93 review

Best TVs: flagship OLEDs and budget LED sets tried and tested

The Sony Bravia 8 II is one of – if not the – most exciting new TVs of the year. Not that you would know that from the name.

The TV is exciting because it’s the successor to the A95L QD-OLED, a model so good that it’s still one of the very best TVs you can currently buy, despite being nearly two years old.

But the name is weird. ‘Bravia 8 II’ suggests it’s the successor to the Bravia 8 W-OLED TV, but the Bravia 8 is continuing in the range, with the Bravia 8 II sitting above it.

Why not call the new model the ‘Bravia 9’? Because Sony’s flagship Mini LED model already takes that name. It can’t be called ‘Bravia 10’, either, as that would suggest it sits above the Bravia 9, which isn’t the case. Besides, that name is likely being saved for the company’s upcoming RGB LED TV.

What’s in a name? Well, the worry is that the name is rather confusing and possibly undersells this new Sony QD-OLED. And it would be a real shame if potential buyers were put off by it – because the Bravia 8 II, here reviewed in 55-inch form, is an extraordinarily good TV.

How much does the Bravia 8 II cost?

Sony promised that the Bravia 8 II would be ‘more affordable than the A95L’, by which it meant that the new model would launch for less than the outgoing model did.

That has turned out to be true for the UK and Australia, but unfortunately not for the US.

Here’s a full launch price comparison between the Bravia 8, Bravia 8 II and A95L:

Thankfully, discounts have come early for the US, so while the TV is still full price in the UK and Australia, it has already dropped to $2500 and $3000 in the US for the 55- and 65-inch versions respectively.

More important than how the Bravia 8 II's pricing compares with that of its fellow Sony TVs is how it compares with rivals such as the LG G5, Samsung S95F and Panasonic Z95B.

You can see the launch pricing for all four models here:

Of course, launch pricing is just the start of the story, and we always recommend waiting for discounts before making a purchase.

History suggests that the LG G5 will be the most heavily discounted model over time, closely followed by the Samsung S95F. Sony and Panasonic TVs, particularly flagship models, are usually less aggressively discounted.

That said, it feels as though we’re in a fairly unprecedented period of volatility, so there’s no guarantee that pricing history will repeat with these models.

What are the key design features of the Bravia 8 II?

The Bravia 8 II looks very similar to the A95L it replaces. One suspects that Sony decided to reuse as much of the chassis as possible to reduce costs so that it could sell the new model for less than its predecessor.

Compared with the flagship OLEDs that Sony produced before the A95L, the design is relatively conventional, but it is also quite smart and premium compared with many rivals.

Sony points to the Bravia 8 II as the slimmest TV in its lineup. At 3.4cm, though, it is the same thickness as the outgoing A95L and significantly thicker than rivals such as the Samsung S95F (1.1cm) and LG G5 (2.4cm). At least some of that comparative thickness is probably due, as with the A95L, to the actuator-based sound system and custom heatsink.

Like the A95L, the Bravia 8 II has blade-style feet that can be positioned only at the furthest extremes of the TV’s bottom edge. Sony claims that’s great for preventing reflections, but it also means the TV can’t be placed on furniture narrower than the set's width, which is 122cm (48 inches) for the 55-inch model and 145cm (64.5 inches) for the 65-inch version.

While the feet can’t be positioned closer to the centre of the chassis, they can be extended to lift the TV a few centimetres so that a soundbar can be positioned in front of the TV without obstructing the screen.

One big disappointment on the design front is that the remote control has been downgraded from the rechargeable, backlit number of the A95L, Bravia 9 and even the Bravia 8, to one that requires AAA batteries and doesn’t light up in the dark. That seems an odd decision.

What are the key features of the Bravia 8 II?

The big thing here, of course, is that the Bravia 8 II uses what Sony refers to as ‘the latest QD-OLED panel’. This, combined with Sony’s processing and custom heatsink, results in the new model apparently being able to go 25 per cent brighter than its A95L QD-OLED predecessor in terms of peak brightness, and 50 per cent brighter than the Bravia 8 W-OLED.

• Read more: W-OLED vs QD-OLED

With this increased brightness comes increased colour volume, and Sony claims to have also engineered big improvements to dark gradation (essentially very dark shading).

As you would expect, the Bravia 8 II is powered by Sony’s XR Processor which, like every rival TV processor right now, uses AI, most notably in what the brand refers to as ‘an AI scene recognition system’. This new, 2025 feature, which is exclusive to the Bravia 8 II and Bravia 5, apparently ‘detects and analyses data with flawless accuracy, then optimises the picture for ultimate realism’.

Sony has gone big in recent years on what it calls ‘Studio Calibrated Modes’. These, it says, deliver content from their respective streaming services as it was meant to be seen. So it’s no surprise to see the Netflix Adaptive Calibrated Mode, Prime Video Calibrated Mode and Sony Pictures Core Calibrated Mode all present on the Bravia 8 II.

The TV also supports Dolby Vision and Atmos, and is IMAX Enhanced certified. As with all previous Sony TVs, it does not support HDR10+, but the standard HDR10 and HLG HDR formats are, of course, on board.

Unfortunately, precious little has changed on the gaming front. Yes, the TV supports 4K/120Hz, VRR and ALLM, and it has a Dolby Vision Game mode. The ‘Perfect for PlayStation 5’ functionality remains, too, which means the TV will automatically dial in pretty accurate HDR settings when connected to a PlayStation 5.

The problem is that there are still just two full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 sockets, and one of those doubles as the eARC port, so it will be taken up by your soundbar or other sound system, should you choose to add one. That will leave just one top-specification input for your console or gaming PC.

That’s fine if you have just one such device, but if you have more, you’re going to have to do some irritating cable swapping or accept the extras running at less than their full capabilities.

As expected, the Bravia 8 II features the Google TV platform, which is gradually gaining ground on LG’s slicker webOS.

The app selection is excellent, with no significant absentees. That includes all of the UK's catch-up services, which can be missing from some Google TV devices.

Every app delivers its content in the expected formats, too, and an initial issue we had with Netflix delivering content in 5.1 rather than Dolby Atmos has since sorted itself out.

How good is the Bravia 8 II's picture quality?

For our testing, we’ve lined the Bravia 8 II up against both its A95L predecessor and Bravia 8 sibling, feeding all sets a variety of content in 4K Dolby Vision, 4K HDR10, 1080p and standard-def.

This content includes Alien: Romulus, Sinners, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Alex Garland’s Civil War, Pan, The Fall Guys, and even an episode of Rowan Atkinson’s fairly forgotten The Thin Blue Line from 1995.

To cut to the chase, the Bravia 8 II is a significant upgrade on both models, and no flaws have been introduced. It’s all gain and no pain, and the results are glorious.

One of the Bravia 8 II’s greatest strengths is how easy it is to get looking its best. For a supremely authentic picture, simply pick Dolby Vision Dark for Dolby Vision content or Professional for everything else.

Should you want a little more pop to proceedings, either because you’re watching in a room with ambient light or simply because you enjoy an even more thrilling delivery, simply switch to Dolby Vision Bright or the Cinema mode.

We’re not saying that small tweaks won’t result in an even better picture, but the presets are so spot on, the vast majority of owners won’t deem that extra effort necessary.

We kick things off with Alien: Romulus in Dolby Vision, and the upgrades offered by the Bravia 8 II are clear and appreciable.

The first of these is predictably the noticeably brighter peak highlights, with the pin-prick stars glistening that little bit more piercingly against the foreboding blackness of deep space.

But there’s more to it than that. The Bravia 8 II’s bright colours are more vibrant than they are from the Bravia 8 and brighter than they are from the A95L, which makes the steadily illuminating orange and red buttons in the cockpit of the recovery craft all the more impressive.

Colours maintain their natural vibrancy in low-light areas, too, such as the bunk in which Cailee Spaeny’s Rain awakens for another glorious day in the employ of the Weyland Yutani corporation.

The work that Sony has done on dark gradation has really paid off as well, in that there’s far more shadow detail from the Bravia 8 II than either of the other sets.

All of the folds and wrinkles in Andy’s (David Jonsson) grey jacket are clear as he and Rain walk through the dystopian streets of the Jackson’s Star Mining Colony, whereas the finest elements are lost on the Bravia 8 and A95L.

But what’s most impressive is how all of these elements combine with Sony’s new AI processing to make the image look so much more solid and three-dimensional. There’s volume and roundedness to objects and people (Rain and Andy as they eat breakfast in front of a daylight-style window, for example), and backgrounds have depth and purpose (the street behind Rain as she talks through a window to a cold corporate shill).

These traits hold true when we switch to Sinners. The incredible, dramatic sunrise skies over the cotton fields have greater shading, depth and contrast from the Bravia 8 II, and you get the feeling you could put your hand through the TV and reach towards the horizon.

The bleached white church really pops against the azure blue skies and verdant green fields, and as the movie takes its dark turn, the improved presentation of shadow detail ensures that you never miss a gory effect or creepy facial expression.

Punchy animated movie Into The Spider-Verse absolutely pops from the Bravia 8 II, particularly in Dolby Vision Bright. The bright sun over Brooklyn sizzles, original Spidey’s red suit is super-vivid, and the dimension-melding action at the start of the film crackles with colour.

Civil War, meanwhile, is such a crisp and vibrant movie (somewhat ironic given the gritty subject matter), and it too looks utterly glorious in HDR10 from the Bravia 8 II.

The flawless colour reproduction brings out the red of the near-sunburnt skin of Wagner Moura’s Joel as he awakens with a hangover in the bright sunlight, and while Kirsten Dunst’s Lee looks a little too pale and shadowy from the Bravia 8 and A95L respectively, the Bravia 8 II reveals the small amount of colour left in her cheeks and the full anguish on her face.

Unsurprisingly, the bright tracer fire and explosions during the battle for Washington, D.C. leap from the screen, providing stunning contrast against the dimly lit streets.

As you would probably imagine, given that it’s mastered to a super-bright 4000 nits, Pan goes even further in illustrating the advantages of the Bravia 8 II over both the Bravia 8 and A95L.

Of course, even the new model can get nowhere near the 4000 nits of the source material, but the combination of greater brightness headroom and some exceptional tone mapping results in significantly more piercing highlights with precise detail and shading.

Once again, though, it’s the way that all of the Bravia 8 II’s individually small upgrades combine to make the image seem so much more solid and lifelike that is so impressive.

Right at the other end of the quality spectrum is our standard-def stream of The Thin Blue Line, and it’s certainly true that 576p material such as this benefits less from the Bravia 8 II’s upgrades than 4K HDR does, but the quality of the upscaling is still mightily impressive.

The image created by the Bravia 8 II is undeniably cleaner and smoother than the other sets can manage, but there’s also impressive sharpness and detail. It wouldn’t be too hard to convince someone that what they were watching was HD rather than SD. We do feel the need to switch from Professional to Cinema here, though, as the former looks a little too dark.

Overall, the key to the Bravia 8 II’s success is balance. The colours are so vibrant, highlights so bright and edges so sharp, but nothing feels exaggerated or incorrect, which means you never feel as though you’re getting anything other than the very best versions of your movies and TV shows.

How good is the Bravia 8 II's sound system?

The Bravia 8 II has the same Acoustic Surface Audio+ setup as the A95L. Said setup consists of two actuators and two subwoofers (the Bravia 8 features two lesser actuators and one sub) and, in the A95L, represents one of the best built-in TV sound systems currently available.

Sure enough, the Bravia 8 II sounds just as good.

The actuators vibrate the screen itself in order to make sound. This ties the audio and video spatially in a way that rival solutions can’t match. But, as with the A95L, the Bravia 8 II manages to combine this directness with very impressive (by TV standards) spaciousness, with effects stretching far beyond the edges of the screen in all directions.

There’s excellent detail, too, and enough dynamic nuance to convey the emotion in an actor’s performance. Bigger dynamic shifts are also handled well, with chapter two of Blade Runner 2049 building steadily where rival sets sound flat.

As with the A95L, the Bravia 8 II isn’t the last word in bass depth, but it’s weightier than many rivals and, more importantly, is very controlled in the low frequencies, with only the faintest hint of fuzz creeping into the uniquely deep notes of the soundtrack.

Tonal balance is very good overall, in fact, with the impressive lower midrange ensuring that there’s warmth and fullness to voices.

In short, the Bravia 8 II sounds very similar to the A95L, which means it’s one of the best-sounding TVs you can buy. We still believe that a picture as good as this demands to be partnered by a dedicated sound system, but this is one of those rare TVs that won’t instantly be improved through the addition of a cheap soundbar.

Think along the lines of the Sonos Arc Ultra as a starting point for appropriate sound quality.

Verdict: is the Sony Bravia 8 II worth buying?

The Sony Bravia 8 II is a truly exceptional TV. Its combination of sizzling brightness, vibrant colours through all degrees of light, terrific shadow detail and razor-like sharpness combine to produce an image with regularly astonishing dynamism, depth and realism.

In fact, it’s so good that it makes the awesome A95L look a bit flat in comparison.

We haven’t yet had the chance to run the Bravia 8 II side-by-side with the LG G5, but our previous experience with the G5 tells us that it will win for sheer brightness and spectacle, but that the Bravia 8 II should be more considered and consistent. We already know for a fact that the Sony sounds significantly better, too.

We will be doing that full comparison as part of our Awards judging process, and we’re predicting a tense battle. Until then, we can’t proclaim the Bravia 8 II to be the very best TV available right now – but it’s undeniably already one of the best.

SCORES:

• Picture 5
• Sound 5
• Features 4

MORE:

Also consider the LG G5, Samsung S95F and Panasonic Z95B

How about a different Sony model? Check out our Bravia 8 review and Bravia 9 review

These are the overall best OLED TVs you can buy right now

Nebula has produced a reliable stream of projectors over the last few years, from portable models such as the four-star Anker Nebula Mars 3 Air to pricier purchases such as the Cosmos Laser 4K projector.

Now, Nebula, which is owned by Anker, is launching another 4K projector that it says is a “cinema-grade outdoor entertainment system”.

The Nebula X1's (supposedly) portable design and easy set-up mean it could be ideal for indoor and outdoor movie screenings.

However, a glance at the specs sheet reveals the projector requires a constant mains connection and is much larger and heavier than most people would consider to be really portable.

In our minds, therefore, this is more of a 'coffee table projector' that can be fairly easily moved between rooms, packed away in a cupboard and brought out for epic movie nights. But, sure, it can also be used in the garden if you have a long extension cable.

Categorisation is tricky, then, but it’s much less important than the performance, which is in many ways very good.

Price

The Nebula X1 is available for £2200 / $2999 (around AU$4550).

There’s also an ‘accessory pack’ that includes two wireless satellite speakers, a carry case and two wireless microphones for £500 / $999.

The price for the projector alone pits it against premium models such as the BenQ X3100i (£2099 / $2399 / AU$3599), which earned a What Hi-Fi? Award last year for its all-round picture performance.

While the BenQ and Nebula are styled quite differently, they’re overall very similar semi-portable projector propositions.

If it’s a true portable projector that you’re after, you’re better off looking at much smaller, battery-operated alternatives such as Nebula’s own Mars 3 Air or BenQ GV31, which cost £550 / $600 / AU$1300 and £449 / $599 / AU$999 respectively.

Build

The X1 has a smart and nifty design that includes a bucket-like handle that can be activated by pushing it down. It is available in one colour: a light yet metallic-looking grey.

The projector measures 24 x 19 x 28cm and weighs 6.2kg. While that is of course heavier than properly portable projectors, it is light enough to carry around for a short distance.

The projector can be placed on a projector stand, table, or the floor, with an optical engine and lens array that then tilts up to 25 degrees. There is an add-on gimbal you can buy as an extra stand for the projector, but it will set you back a further £120 / $179.

The remote control is intuitive to use, helped massively by the addition of backlight buttons to make navigation easier in the dark.

On the top of the projector is a touch screen from which you can control volume, power, and begin keystone correction. There’s also a toggle button so you can navigate the menu without the remote.

Sci-fi nerds will also be pleased at the addition of a Battlestar Galactica-esque red light that appears on the top when the projector is turned on.

Features

The triple-laser X1 projector boasts a 4K resolution, a claimed 3500 ANSI lumens of brightness and it can supposedly project an image up to 300 inches in size.

Nebula is also employing some AI smarts to make the set-up supposedly simpler. The brand’s AI Spatial Adaptation auto set-up includes real-time autofocus, keystone correction, ambient light adaptation and wall colour adaptation, which can all be switched on via the remote control.

We use it to fit the picture to our screen, and while some adjusting is required, the AI does a good job of understanding the space around it.

There is also a Spatial Recall feature, so the Nebula X1 can remember your preferred settings for selected spaces to make set-up easier.

In terms of streaming capabilities, the Nebula projector features the Google TV platform with Netflix built in. You can choose to download all the usual suspects, including Channel 4, Disney+, YouTube, Apple TV+, Netflix, ITVX and Amazon Prime Video. BBC iPlayer is not available, though you can at least cast it to the projector from your phone as a workaround.

If you want to connect to a gaming system or Blu-ray player, the X1 also has two HDMI ports on the rear, including one with eARC for use with an external sound system.

The projector has an internal liquid cooling system, which Nebula says helps keep noise to a whisper-like 26dB. While using the projector, the system is indeed impressively quiet, barely audible in fact.

When it comes to the picture modes on offer, the X1 offers a whole host of options.

First up, the brand’s own NebulaMaster mode can “improve contrast with enriched details in both bright and dark areas of the image”, according to the company. However, while we find that this mode does boost the brightness, the image also takes on a pale hue that is lacking cinematic warmth.

Standard mode has this same paleness, but it’s also lacking the enhanced detail of NebulaMaster, so we feel it’s best avoided. There is a Sports mode, which heightens the highlights in the image, and a Vivid mode brightens the picture even more, but at the expense of dark detail.

There are Day and Night modes calibrated by the ISF (Imaging Science Foundation), which do tailor the image to these different environments with adjusted brightness levels, but they also tend to flatten the image and make it less engaging.

Our preference is the Movie mode, which offers the most balanced presentation in terms of colour and detail, and gives us the most cinematic picture.

For gamers, there are Standard and Extreme gaming picture modes to choose from.

If all that is not enough for you, there are also several sound modes to choose from. For testing, we stick with the Movie sound preset due to its wide sense of space and its vocal clarity.

There is also a Music mode, which brings out the vocals more but at the expense of the bass, and an Outdoors mode that widens the soundstage but lacks the detail and impact of the Movie setting.

Nebula has an accompanying app as well, where you can change picture and sound modes, use the image correction tools and select a streaming service to open.

There’s also a neat feature where your phone screen is designed to resemble the remote’s toggle wheel. You can use Google Cast through the app, too.

Picture

We kick off with Alien: Romulus via Disney+. As a spacecraft silently drifts through a floating wreckage, the Nebula X1 immediately shows off its impressive black levels as the enveloping blackness of space is inky and dark.

Twinkling stars contrast with the blackness, and their brightness successfully peeks through. The Movie picture mode certainly helps the image to feel cinematic too; as the ship passes through the debris, it has a good sense of three-dimensionality.

In terms of colour, the X1 keeps the picture vibrant and engaging. With the Antarctica episode of Seven Worlds, One Planet on 4K Blu-ray, the gentoo penguins preparing to dive into the ocean are detailed and vivid. Their bright red beaks and fluffy feathers look tangible and textured.

At times, the picture is actually a bit too sharp, with a slightly unnatural degree of enhancement creeping in. This can be solved by reducing the Sharpness a few points, which results in a more balanced picture that is still pleasantly crisp.

Moving to the more subtle palette of Oppenheimer on 4K Blu-ray, the Nebula X1 does start to struggle a little.

When Cillian Murphy’s Oppenheimer stands in front of a blackboard, there is a slight flickering on the white wall behind him. We have noticed this flicker with other projectors, but the X1 exaggerates it.

We also find that the rainbow effect, which is when you catch glimpses of coloured light out of the corner of your eye, is slightly more noticeable with the Nebula than with some rivals, including the BenQ X3100i.

There is a slight judder to motion from the X1, too. When Oppenheimer arrives at his new home with his family in a car, the swooping aerial shot feels slightly glitchy. What’s interesting is that this delivery of motion is a little inconsistent: we rewatch this scene numerous times, and the ratio of judder to smoothness varies on each watch.

The BenQ X3100i, by comparison, is consistently smooth in its delivery, and the flicker in the blackboard scene is much less noticeable.

Despite these flaws, the X1’s vibrant colour presentation and depth do provide an impressively immersive experience that feels cinematic.

Sound

Many projectors tend to drop the ball when it comes to audio, but the Nebula X1 excels here. Even without the optional wireless speakers, the projector’s 2.1 speaker configuration manages to create a rich and detailed sound by projector standards.

When watching Thor: Ragnarok, the battle sequence between the villainous Hella and the Asgardian army feels weighty and gripping as you can feel every punch.

The dialogue is clearly audible even in busy scenes such as this, providing a balanced overall audio experience.

It is reasonably localised, so we do not get a huge sense of immersion, but this is impressive sound overall.

The BenQ X3100i, by comparison, sounds thin and much less impactful, especially in terms of vocal clarity. When it comes to sound, the Nebula X1 blows the competition out of the water.

We also test the X1 with the optional wireless speakers. These use Nebula’s own surround sound format, FlexWave, to create a sense of height along with the up-firing drivers.

The soundstage is immediately widened and upgraded, filling the room with detailed but immersive audio.

Verdict

The Nebula X1’s audio makes it stand out from the crowd, as it is rare we have found a projector that can pack such a punch in terms of bass.

Its slightly inconsistent picture performance is a shame, because when the projector is operating at its best, it is exceptionally detailed and three-dimensional.

If you are looking for a projector that offers a simple set-up, punchy picture and top-notch sound performance, then the Nebula X1 is a great contender.

SCORES

• Picture 4
• Sound 4
• Features 5

MORE:

Also consider the BenQ X3100i

Best projectors: budget, 4K and ultra-short-throw

The evolution of TV tech seems to move at a lightning pace. But if you already keep your eyes peeled for the latest AV trends, you may have already heard of RGB Mini LED.

Sony, Hisense, Samsung, and TCL have all teased RGB Mini LED TVs in the past few months, with various claims being made about the technology’s potential to surpass OLED for picture quality.

Those are bold claims indeed, but it is true that RGB Mini LED has some clear benefits.

So, just what is RGB Mini LED? Why did it turn heads at CES 2025? Even more importantly, when will it come to your local retailer or online emporium? Keep reading and we will explain all.

What is RGB Mini LED?

There are two major types of TV display on today’s market. The first comprises LCD/LED displays, which use a backlight behind a matrix of liquid crystals to control the amount of light reaching the viewer.

The second type of display is OLED, where self-illuminating pixels emit their own light without the need for said backlight.

Quantum Dot Mini LED (what Samsung refers to as ‘Neo QLED’) is the most advanced form of LED display currently found in the consumer electronics world.

These employ a Mini LED backlight for focused local dimming and tiny light-emitting semiconductors to achieve a broader and more precise colour range.

Mini LED displays normally incorporate a thin layer of blue LEDs with a QDEF (Quantum Dot Enhancement Film) that sits between the backlight and the LCD panel. The Quantum Dots absorb the blue light and re-emit it as red and green light.

This enhances both the available colour gamut and display brightness over other technologies. But this process is now considered sub-optimal and less efficient.

So, enter RGB Mini LED. Rather than plump for blue LEDs, which must be converted to red and green (while letting blue light pass through), RGB Mini LED places independent red, green and blue LEDs into an optical lens behind the LCD panel.

This removes the need for a QDEF layer. The local dimming is now a three-colour process that doesn’t rely on a conventional blue or white backlight.

What are the benefits of RGB Mini LED?

TV makers don’t invest in massive technology advancements unless there are big upsides in performance and efficiency. Let’s look at what RGB Mini LED has to offer.

There are five key benefits to RGB Mini LED:

• Wider colour gamut and better colour accuracy – Because RGB Mini LED uses red, green and blue LEDs to create colours, there’s no need for a colour conversion system such as QDEF. The result is potentially purer, more accurate colours, along with a wider colour space. Some manufacturers are touting an available colour gamut of 97 per cent or 99 per cent of BT2020 (which encapsulates the full range of human colour perception). Naturally, this should result in more lifelike and intense colours from movies and media.
• Improved brightness – The new tech theoretically enables images to be much brighter than competing technologies. With independent RGB LEDs, there’s less light loss caused by the Quantum Dot colour conversion. High brightness displays with RGB Mini LED can potentially get to a staggering 10,000 nits, although the next generation of consumer products is predicted to max out at around half of that figure.
• Better contrast – The gains from the increased colour accuracy and brightness available in RGB Mini LED panels should also lead to better overall contrast ratios – though that will of course also depend on a TV’s light control and black depth. Improved contrast results in a more solid and dynamic picture.
• Lower blue light emission – As blue light is discretely controlled in RGB Mini LED devices, there is a reduction in fatiguing blue light emissions. This will contribute to a more comfortable viewing experience, particularly for low-light conditions, when many of us prefer to watch movie content. Lower blue light emissions can promote longer viewing sessions while reducing eye strain.
• Lower energy consumption – The blue light conversion to red and green in conventional Mini LED TVs eats up electrical energy. As RGB Mini LED removes this function from the image creation process, there’s less power used. RGB Mini LED could save as much as 20 per cent of energy usage over an equivalent-sized OLED display, for example.

Which manufacturers are involved? When will RGB Mini LED be available?

It was at CES in Las Vegas in January that several manufacturers unveiled their TV wares incorporating the new RGB Mini LED tech.

Hisense brought its 116-inch 116UX model to the show floor The company claimed that it will achieve the widest colour gamut ever seen with a Mini LED display.

It’s also slated to cost $30,000 at launch, although a 100-inch version was also on show. Expect the first units to ship within China, with other markets getting their hands on them by the summer.

Samsung also revealed its RGB Micro LED display at CES. Back then, the Korean manufacturer suggested that 75-, 85- and 98-inch versions could soon be on the way.

But earlier this month, Samsung stated that a huge 115-inch model will be added to the roster. Expect to see the first models appear in June.

Note that there is some ambiguity over Samsung’s naming convention: true Micro LED is a self-emissive tech that uses individual LEDs as pixels, whereas the Samsung ‘Micro LED’ product relies on an LCD screen layer and backlight, which is what most people, including us, consider to be an RGB Mini LED display.

TCL showed off consumer prototypes of its RGB-MicroLED – the tech brand name here is written as by the manufacturer – dotted around the CES exhibition halls. Although no release dates have been set, expect these to push out to 2026, or late 2025, at best.

Of course, what you all want to know: is RGB Mini LED better than OLED?

Well, yes and no. While RGB Mini LED is essentially a successor to Mini LED, rather than OLED, it does

have some potential advantages over the latter. Those include higher peak brightness and no threat of burn-in.

On the flipside, RGB Mini LED will never have the pixel-level contrast control of OLED, and it will struggle to match it for black level and response times.

It’s also worth noting that while brightness is a traditional limitation of OLED technology, new iterations of OLED, such as Primary RGB Tandem OLED and QD-OLED, have and continue to take OLED to new levels of brightness.

One wonders if, once it hits the mainstream, RGB Mini LED tech will have much of a brightness advantage over OLED after all.

Even we don’t yet know how this one will shake out, so stay tuned for all of the RGB Mini LED developments as we get them.

MORE:

These are the best Mini LED TVs we've reviewed

We rate the best OLED TVs for serious movie fans

Our picks of the best Dolby Atmos soundbars

The Optoma Photon Go is a different beast to anything we have had in our test rooms before.

Yes, we’ve tested ultra-short throw projectors before and portable projectors aplenty, but never a portable UST projector, which is what this is.

With a range of set-up features to ease the faff of keystone correction as well as a light design and an integrated smart platform, the Photon Go is a great proposition on paper.

There are, however, some niggling issues.

Price

The Optoma Photon Go is available for £899, and because it’s a unique product, there aren’t any true direct competitors.

However, we feel that someone considering it will most likely be focusing on the portability first and the ultra-short throw design second.

In that case, they will also be considering more typical portable projectors, such as the Anker Nebula Mars 3 Air, which is one of the best portable projectors we have tested and is officially priced at £550 / $600 / AU$1300.

We like the Anker’s overall picture and sound quality, as well as its simple design, which makes it easy to carry around.

If someone is actually focused on the UST element first and foremost, finding an alternative to the Optoma means stretching the budget significantly. The Hisense PL1 is one of the cheapest available, but it costs £1999 / $2500 / AU$2995.

Its performance is superb, but it’s designed for permanent placement in your living room and is far from portable.

The Optoma is positioned somewhere between these two markets – a UST that you can take on the go to watch films or TV easily.

Design

If it’s meant to be portable, it’s got to be light. The Optoma Photon Go ticks this box, weighing in at a neat 1.72kg. It is about the size of a lunchbox, which makes it easy to pop into a tote bag or rucksack.

The top has a sturdy fabric cover that gives it an expensive look, with the rest of the body sporting a black plastic design.

On its bottom are four feet to steady the projector on surfaces. Around the back, the connectivity options are kept simple, but they include an HDMI input so you can connect a Blu-ray player, games console or streamer.

The lens is buried in a divot on the projector’s top, keeping it fairly secure from being bashed about on your travels.

The remote control is light, features useful shortcut buttons to some streaming services, and benefits from intuitive button placement, which is essential as you’ll probably often be using the projector in the dark.

Features

Inside the Optoma Photon Go’s portable body is a triple RGB laser system capable of delivering a claimed 650 ANSI lumens of brightness.

Optoma also claims the projector can reproduce 150 per cent of the DCI-P3 colour spectrum. The resolution is 1080p, and HDR support comes in the form of HLG and HDR10.

So, there’s no 4K here, and the brightness figure is a long way short of more premium projectors, but this claim is pretty decent for its price range and portable nature.

The Optoma Photon Go offers a claimed maximum battery life of one and a half hours when used for video. This will differ based on what setting you have the projector on for both sound and picture. One and a half hours won’t get you through a football match or a typical modern movie, so it’s a pretty disappointing figure.

You can, however, bring along a battery pack to charge the projector when you are out and about. Even so, you would hope a portable model would allow a longer viewing time. The Anker Nebula Mars Air, by comparison, can last a maximum two and a half hours.

The Photon Go can project an image 100 inches in size from just 25cm from the wall. There is a range of robust image positioning features that make set-up relatively easy, including auto-keystone and focus correction. It also has a zoom feature, which a lot of USTs fail to include. While the projector does not always get it right, tweaking the settings manually is pretty fuss-free.

In terms of streaming, the projector is powered by Google TV and comes with Netflix built in. You can also add other apps such as Apple TV+, Amazon Prime Video, Youtube and Channel 4. It’s worth noting, however, that there is no BBC iPlayer app to be seen. Optoma hasn’t replied to our request for clarification on this.

One workaround for the absence of iPlayer is to use Google Cast, where you can stream videos from your phone or laptop to the projector. While it would be better in terms of picture quality to use a local native app, at least there is a way to access the streaming service.

Picture

We begin our testing by watching Conclave on Amazon Prime Video, as we can’t see many people lugging a Blu-ray player outside to use the projector.

When Ralph Fiennes’ Cardinal Lawrence first enters his private bedroom, his bright red hat (or ‘zucchetto’) is distinct compared to the dark background behind him. The projector does not overdo the brightness either, as much of the detail on his robes is visible.

The Optoma Photon Go also achieves a reasonably rich level of blackness compared to the dark grey that many projectors can fall victim to.

As Cardinal Lawrence moves further into the room towards a lampshade, the projector manages to capture the graduated brightness of the lamp instead of just a block of light.

Compared with other portable projectors around this price range, however, the Photon Go does not manage to convey nearly the level of vibrancy and detail we have come to expect.

Switching to Barbie on 4K Blu-ray, the usually bright colours seem dull and flat, which makes the colourful sets and costumes much less interesting to look at. As Margot Robbie’s eponymous character walks up to Weird Barbie’s home, the almost neon pink looks closer to a salmon shade.

We also notice a slight lattice effect across the whole screen, which gives the image a low-resolution feel, with text slightly pixelated and shapes lacking refinement.

When watching the North American episode of Seven Worlds, One Planet on Blu-ray, the natural textures feel muddy. Compared with the best portable projectors around, the Photon Go falls short of capturing the subtle detail of a black bear’s fur as it makes its way through the forest.

As this projector is meant to be ideal for outdoor movie nights, we test it out in light conditions too. While the image is still visible, it loses even more vibrancy and becomes much less engaging.

Sound

Overall, the Optoma Photon Go succeeds in delivering a relatively balanced and emotive sound.

With Seven Worlds, One Planet, the swelling orchestral soundtrack is impressively nuanced for the two modest built-in 10W speakers. David Attenborough’s narration is clear too, striking a good balance between naturalism and emotion.

The volume does not go particularly high, though, and we find there’s not much of a difference between 70 and 100 on the controls.

This means the overall experience does feel a bit lacklustre, especially as the lower frequencies do not manage to pack much of a punch. It’s also a bit of a problem when using the projector in a large room or outside, where the sound can easily get lost.

With the projector’s Bluetooth abilities, you do at least have the option of adding a wireless speaker or soundbar to the mix to boost the sound.

Verdict

The Optoma Photon Go is an interesting and unique portable UST that ticks a lot of boxes from a design perspective.

Its picture lacks the clarity and vibrancy of the best portable projectors and the battery life is disappointing, but the Photon Go is still reasonably watchable, relatively easy to set up and offers a fairly balanced audio delivery.

If having a UST with such a design is important to you, this model is pretty much your only option.

But, for those on the search for a portable projector with a more refined image, there are better options at this price point, and lower.

SCORES

• Picture 3
• Sound 4
• Features 4

MORE:

Read our review of the Anker Nebula Mars 3 Air

Also consider the BenQ GV31

Read our Epson EF-12

Best projectors: budget, 4K and ultra-short-throw

If you’re one of the growing sea of people looking to take the ultra-short-throw projector (UST) plunge, a unit from Hisense may well be on your shopping list; and for good reason.

The Chinese tech giant’s recent offerings have impressed our testers enough over the past year or so to earn positive reviews and cement its lead in the space..

And, having tested the Hisense PX3, we are pleased to report that this trend, for the most part, continues – though there are some caveats, including its slightly odd positioning in Hisense’s current “Laser Cinema” line.

Price

The company’s “Laser Cinema” category of UST projectors, where you'll find the PX3, sits above its cheaper “Laser TV” options.

This means it targets the upper echelons of UST projectors as a category and has a price tag to match, currently retailing for £2499 in the UK. At the time of publishing, the unit was not on sale in the US or Australia.

In isolation, that’s pretty reasonable, with rivals we’ve tested including the Epson EH-LS650 retailing for around £2199. But oddly, it costs the same as its Award-winning sibling, the Hisense PX3 Pro.

The lack of differentiation is odd, but there is partial reasoning for this, specifically that the base PX3 is, for the most part, identical to its Pro-series sibling.

The bigger spanner in the works is the existence of the Hisense PL2, which costs less, retailing for £1999 / $2499 and has fairly competitive specifications with the PX3.

Build

The PX3 and PX3 Pro projectors look identical. To the extent that we had to check the serial numbers on our review units several times before swapping them in and out during testing.

Both have utilitarian designs with angular grey metallic finishes and a slightly aggressive-looking metal front grille. This houses the units’ identical inbuilt 50-watts per channel Harmon Kardon speakers.

The PX3 is also atypically long and shallow, measuring the same 12 x 55 x 30cm as the Pro. This is intentional and means the unit has a very short 0:22:1 throw ratio that lets it sit incredibly close to a wall and throw up an 80-150-inch image.

The short throw distance should make setting the PX3 up relatively simple and let it sit neatly on smaller cabinets and tighter spaces than many rivals, which tend to need a bit more space.

But in the real world we find its set-up is still a little finicky. Like nearly all the ultra short throw projectors we test, the PX3 doesn’t feature physical lens control. Instead, it tries to initially force you to rely on keystone and digital picture correction.

The fiddly process asks you to set the unit up by taking a photo of a projected test pattern and then uploading it to Hisense’s website.

The process is not seamless and even after numerous attempts we still found ourselves having to fiddle with the adjustable feet and make manual adjustments to get it just right.

Be warned, this process is far easier if you have a partner in crime who can help tell you how it looks at a decent distance while you play with the feet and general positioning.

The other common compromise you get is that the unit doesn’t come bundled with a screen, which you really do need if you want the best results – trust us, no matter how good a projector is, you’ll never get truly brilliant results running directly onto reflective, painted walls.

The remote is identical to Hisense’s other standard UST and home cinema projector models. This means it’s a long chunky beast with a solar panel light sensor built in that’s designed to prolong battery life.

The design is fine, but once again lacks a full backlight, which is a minor but common issue we experience with most home cinema hardware.

Features

If you’re wondering what differentiates the PX3 from the Pro, after thorough testing, hours of going through its specifications sheets, instructions manual and having a conversation with Hisense, we can confirm there are three things.

First, the PX3 doesn’t have IMAX Enhanced or DTS support like its Pro sibling. This will be an annoyance for Disney+ subscribers, where you can stream content mastered to that standard.

Thanks to the unit's support for the more common HDR10, Dolby Vision and HLG formats, it's not a deal breaker, however.

The inclusion of HDR10+ will also benefit Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, Apple TV+ and, in the future, Disney+ subscribers. This is a tweaked variant of HDR10 that offers frame-by-frame brightness and colour correction for HDR images.

Second, it offers 200 ANSI lumens less brightness than the Pro. Specifically, 2800 lumens to the Pro’s 3000.

Outside of this, it features the same 3000:1 contrast ratio, 110 per cent coverage of the BT.2020 color space and quoted 25,000-plus hours of light source life.

The firm’s Trichroma RGB laser light tech also returns, which uses separate red, green and blue lasers to project images, in a bid to offer a wider and more accurate gamut of colours.

These are top-end specifications. As a frame of reference, the Hisense PL2 Laser TV sitting below the PX3 line offers 2700 lumens of brightness. The older PL1, which we still recommend as it has been heavily discounted and still performs excellently, has an even lower 2100 ANSI lumens peak brightness.

The only other difference is that the PX3 has an inbuilt TV tuner to complement its VIDAA operating system. This means you can tune it and use it to play normal terrestrial TV as well as stream via its inbuilt apps.

VIDAA itself remains a good, albeit slightly clunky OS. Though its interface is a little less optimised than Google TV and the like, app support is solid.

All the usual suspects, including Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV+ are present and stream correctly. In the UK, there’s also a decent selection of UK catch-up apps and local services, including BBC iPlayer and Now.

Outside of this, the PX3 Pro offers identical specifications to the Pro model – which is no bad thing.

The UST is being pitched at gamers with rare ‘made for Xbox Series consoles' certification. What this means is that, unlike many USTs, the unit’s two HDMI 2.1 inputs can handle games at 4K/120Hz.

These are complemented by an HDMI 2.0 output with eARC, plus a USB-A and 3.5mm audio output and ethernet – though its Wi-Fi 6 connectivity means you shouldn’t need the final input to stream.

Picture

The PX3 delivers a very similar picture to the PX3 Pro when we run the two head-to-head. Interestingly, we find slightly different settings from those available with its sibling get the most out of it, thanks to some performance-related software updates to VIDAA.

Powering up our Top Gun: Maverick 4K Blu-ray, the PX3’s standard setting’s motion handling is way too aggressive, and the picture verges on suffering from the dreaded soap opera effect. The contrast is a little too heavy-handed, too, and swathes of detail as Maverick exits a dark caravan come out as completely black.

Playing with the settings, the Filmmaker mode offers the best starting point, but still requires some finessing. With all motion and noise reduction off, movements look a little too jagged and the colours have an overt yellowish tone.

Using the projector’s “dark detail” setting you can undeniably see more of the picture, but black tones become inconsistent and become a constant distraction as they flip up and down from scene-to-scene.

Eventually we settle on Filmmaker mode with dynamic tone mapping on, the colour profile set to Warm 2 and the projector’s motion and noise reduction settings on low to get the best results.

Switching to our Dune: Part 2 4K Blu-ray, the PX3 delivers an admirable performance. Skin tones have a pleasing warmth and the rolling desert dunes look three-dimensional, with every shadow and sparkling grain of sand holding a distinct place. Explosions have an aggressive peak that makes the action-packed scene come alive and immerse you in the action unfolding on screen.

This is even more noticeably watching Barbie, where the intentionally cartoony, overbaked colour palette has a vibrancy and pop you won’t find on cheaper USTs, the Hisense PL2 included. The PX3 does a decent job, never pushing too hard and looking overbaked, as happens on the Xgimi Aura 2.

Moving to our tried and tested Blade Runner 2049 test disc, the projector offers a solid performance, for the most part. The upgraded Trichroma RGB laser light source gives colours a pleasing pop you don’t get on most USTs.

The red gloves of Sapper Morton’s hazmat suit in particular hold a captivating vibrancy as he works his farm.

Skin tones as he enters the dark farmhouse retain a sense of warmth and three dimensionality, with his cheeks retaining their intended red tinge. In most instances, the PX3 does a stellar job showcasing peaks, with there being a pleasing range of tones and colours from the darkest and lightest parts of the picture.

This gives the picture a wonderfully three-dimensional feeling. Objects and characters hold a distinct place in the picture, adding a sense of depth and realism that cheaper USTs can’t match.

But there are some issues. The projector struggles to rapidly shift between bright and dark segments. On a couple of occasions, the entire picture shifts from the UST’s standard deep blacks to a slightly grey tone, causing unnecessary distraction in the process.

This is annoying as the issue doesn’t repeat on the cheaper Hisense PL2 which, while more subdued, offers a more consistent picture.

This is a general trend that makes the PX3 and PX3 Pro both a harder sell in today’s market, given the difference in price and smaller performance gap.

The PX3’s motion handling suffers from some issues, too. When turned completely off, the movements of Morton and K during a heated exchange in Blade Runner 2049 feel too jagged and unnatural. But when we switch to Low or Filmmaker, things go too far the other way and the throws and punches are oversmoothed. We’d like a middle ground between the two.

SDR upscaling is also average at best. The PX3 struggles with the opening scene of True Grit, a famously difficult SDR test disc due to the film’s intentionally grainy spaghetti western nature, with the black level occasionally jumping and artefacts creeping into the falling snow.

Thankfully, the issue only occurs in difficult scenes. The projector does an admirable job streaming the original Total Recall on Netflix, offering a fun picture that deals surprisingly well with the film’s old-school physical effects and red, dusty environments.

Sound

The PX3’s built-in sound system is identical to the Pro model’s, outside of its lack of DTS support. Its performance is similarly middling as a result.

Voices and background noise in the opening scene of Blade Runner 2049 are clear, but slightly thin. The bass-heavy second scene pushes the system to its limit, and distortion creeps in and the low end overpowers the mid and higher parts of the frequency range.

Switching from Standard to Theatre mode, things marginally improve. During a difficult scene in which K converses with a hologram moving around his apartment, there’s more of a sense of separation between the different parts of the audio. But the directionality lacks finesse.

This becomes even more apparent watching Top Gun: Maverick. There’s a definite sense of direction, and even some height, to the audio, but it doesn’t quite match the movements of the planes, making the experience feel disjointed.

There’s a slight acidity to some engine noise that is just unpleasant enough to make you wince during certain segments as well.

The end result is a system that is just about fine for casual TV streaming, but nowhere near controlled and powerful enough for serious film viewing. If you want the best results, you will want to budget for a separate sound system, if you don’t already have one.

Verdict

The PX3 is an odd UST that in most ways is identical to the PX3 Pro we reviewed and gave five-stars to last year. And if we’d reviewed it at the same time as its Pro sibling, it would have been an easier recommendation despite its lack of IMAX Enhanced and DTS support.

Colour volume and vibrancy are solid by UST standards, and outside of quirks with its motion handling and light control, it can deliver dazzling results playing films.

But in 2025, the existence of the cheaper Hisense PL2, which narrows the gap between the PX and PL series like never before, makes it a harder sell. As a result, it is a fantastic UST projector for gamers and a good, though not perfect, option for movie fans.

SCORES

• Picture 4
• Sound 3
• Features 5

MORE:

Read our review of the Hisense PL2

Also consider the Xgimi Aura 2

Read our Hisense PX3 Pro review

Best projectors: budget, 4K and ultra-short-throw